Signs
by silenceeverything
Summary: The only thing better than being in love, is falling in love. Hanna Marin's falling in love with Caleb Rivers and there are 19 signs that are going to make her realise it and surrender herself every delicious step along the way. Haleb. Canon with season 2. Rated T.
1. The Ex

**Yes, what am I doing, posting a new story? Woooooooops**

 **But I was given a prompt on twitter and then I found an article and well I really wanted to write some canon teen Haleb. This is set Season 2 before Hanna drops the big 'L' word and is pretty self-explanatory: 19 signs that tells her she loves Caleb Rivers. Note, this is gonna be pretty light, no mega drama and the chapters aren't going to be super long ~ think of it more as a ficlet (I say that now)**

 **Picture of dress will be posted on my twitter (silenceevery) if you care, but Hanna did wear it in 3x12**

 **T for now. May move to M.**

 **So yeah, enjoy...**

* * *

 _"You can't remember the last time you thought about your ex"_

* * *

"Mom!" Hanna yelled anxiously as she huffed in front of her mirror. There was no response and Hanna couldn't help but roll her eyes, " _MOM!_ " She shouted again; did her mother not realize this was an emergency.

"What?" She heard a faint voice call back.

"I need you!"

There was the sound of feet on the stairs before Hanna caught sight of Ashley Marin appearing in the doorway, "What is it?" She asked her, moving into the room.

"I can't do my zipper up," She said, pulling her hair to the side to reveal her naked back and before looking imploringly at her mother in the mirror to come and help her.

"This is pretty," Ashley remarked, smoothing out the straps of the striped dress once it was zipped all the way to the top. "I like the leather," She added, taking in the black straps and hemline.

"Thanks," Hanna muttered, fluffing with a piece of hair that was refusing to stay in place.

"It's also short and tight."

"Mom," The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Do we need to be having a conversation?" Ashley asked pointedly, crossing her arms across her chest.

"No, we don't."

" _Hanna_."

"Mom!" She shrieked, "What do you think I'm gonna do? Strip naked as soon as I see him?"

"I'm _concerned_."

"Why?" Hanna asked, "It's a date, not a swingers party."

"A what?"

"Nevermind," Hanna muttered, reaching for her blusher brush to touch up her cheeks. "I thought you liked Caleb."

Ashley twisted a piece of Hanna's hair in her hand, "I do sweetheart," She sighed, rubbing her shoulder, "I just don't want you to feel pressured, or like you can't talk to me about this."

"Why are you being like this?" Hanna threw her head into her hands in desperation, "This isn't our first date."

"Because," Ashley squeezed her shoulder before stepping back to sit on the edge of the bed. "This is different."

"Different to what? I've been to the cinema before."

"I can see it in you."

"See what?" Hanna tossed her hair back, completely frustrated. She'd asked her Mom to help her with a zipper, not give her a lecture on her relationship with Caleb. "I'm me," She stressed, "This is me."

"Honey, I know you're falling for him," Ashley said gently, "And there's nothing wrong with that," She added quickly, "I want you to be happy and know what it's like to fall in love with someone, but he's different to Sean."

Hanna's hand froze halfway in mid air as she reached for her lipstick. "Why are you bringing him up?" She said stoically. She couldn't remember the last time she'd thought about her ex-boyfriend, let alone spoken about him.

The doorbell rang before Ashley could respond and it kick-started Hanna's last minute preparation again. "Curfew's at 11," Ashley reminded her, slightly taken aback as she watched Hanna rush around at lightning speed, making sure she had everything in her bag before she pulled on her shoes.

"It was 12 last time," She argued, looking at herself one final time.

"You weren't wearing that dress last time."

"I'm so done with this conversation," Hanna groaned as they made their way down the stairs. "I grabbed a condom, don't wait up," She yelled, yanking open the door and slamming it shut before Ashley had a chance to say anything else.

"Hanna," Ashley growled as she made her way to the window – she couldn't help herself – just to watch them as they disappeared. But they hadn't disappeared; instead she stood there, cringing as she witnessed her daughter place a long, probing kiss on her boyfriend's lips. She was pretty sure his hands were inching their way down Hanna's waist and she forced herself to tear her eyes away before she saw something she really didn't want to. She was booking an appointment with the doctors first thing to get her daughter on contraception.

* * *

"So," Hanna whispered as she linked her fingers with Caleb's, the light from the house pouring out through the windows to illuminate his face. She felt her stomach twist; it wasn't just his face, it was the most perfect, bone structure, jawline, I-could-kiss-those-lips-forever face and most of the time she couldn't quite believe that face seemed to be into her just as much.

"So," Caleb grinned down at her, toying with her fingers until he couldn't help himself and he just had to touch her waist. "Is your Mom watching?" He whispered, his eyebrows dancing as he moved his forehead to rest on hers.

Hanna bit her lip and glanced towards the window. She caught the edge of a shadow and rolled her eyes, "Yep," She muttered, trying to simmer the embarrassment that was rising up through her body to bloom on her cheeks.

Caleb sighed with smile on his face, "I really wanted to kiss you," He whispered as his fingers ran around her back before returning to their natural place on her waist. She fit perfectly in his hands.

Hanna bit her lip; not once had Caleb ever made her doubt his attraction towards her and for a girl that had body issues, it just made her heart beat that little bit faster, "Then kiss me," She grinned, before his lips were edging towards hers and her eyes were fluttering shut.

She loved the way he kissed her; just enough tenderness to tell her how much he cared and just enough pressure to tell her how much he wanted her. She looped her hand through his long tresses and wrapped it around his neck as their tongues fought for dominance. Caleb felt like his hands were moving on their own accord as they inched their way down to Hanna's butt, but he wanted her and it was only when a shadow crossed the light that he was reminded exactly where they were. "We should go," He mumbled, pulling away breathlessly. "The film starts soon and I know how long you take to pick out your snacks."

"I do not," She frowned, but the smile on her face told him otherwise.

"Yes, you do," He argued, linking their fingers again before he started to lead her down the path to the car he'd borrowed from Lucas.

"Look, when you're forced to choose between popcorn and sour patch kids, it's a difficult decision." Hanna defended herself, separating from him to climb into the car.

"I never said it wasn't," Caleb agreed as he started the engine, "I'm just saying, it takes you a while to decide."

"My taste buds are easily disappointed, okay?"

"Really?" He whispered, pausing and turning his body to face hers.

She nodded and stifled a laugh as their noses touched, "All the time," She teased him before he was cupping her cheek and pulling their mouths together, reminding her that when she was kissing him, her taste buds were never disappointed. Ever.

* * *

Thirty minutes later and Caleb was starting to lose the will to live. Hanna had settled on popcorn but had spent the last few minutes chewing her fingernails off as she decided between sweet and salty. "Babe," He sighed as he stood there and watched her stare at the popcorn machine worriedly, "Why don't you just mix them?" He attempted to rectify the situation.

"You can't just mix them," She muttered, "It makes it off-balance."

Caleb rolled his eyes and was just about to tell her how ridiculous she was being when a voice interrupted them, "Hanna?" They both turned around to see Sean Ackard stood in front of them with a few members of the football team loitering behind him.

"Sean," Hanna swallowed nervously, "Hi."

"How are you?" He smiled, tucking his hands into his front pockets and rocking on his heels.

"Good," She said stoically, unsure as to how to react. She felt a possessive arm reach around her waist to pull her into a warm body and she was reminded of the boy she was on a date with. "You remember Caleb, right?"

"Yeah," She saw Sean visibly swallow before he exchanged some typical everything-is-okay-I-don't-know-you-but-I-kind-of-know-you man hug with Caleb. She'd forgotten they'd met when Sean asked Caleb to upgrade his phone. "I haven't seen you around school much," He remarked casually.

"I've just had a lot going on," She shook her head dismissively – he didn't need to know about the cyber stalker that was haunting her and her best friends.

The hand was back on her waist and she felt Caleb give her a reassuring squeeze before he was piping up, "The film's about to start," He said, "You wanna grab the food?" He suggested to her.

"Yeah, we should go in too," Sean smiled, glancing over his shoulder to see his friends had started to head towards the screen.

"What are you seeing?" Caleb impulsively asked.

"Uhh Limitless," Sean checked his ticket stub, "You guys?"

"Justin Bieber," Caleb lied before Hanna had a chance to say anything, "Girls are just obsessed with his hair," He remarked, his jaw stiff as he looked at Hanna's ex-boyfriend.

"Well, enjoy guys," The blonde said before he was up the stairs and into his screen as fast as possible.

"Why'd you lie?" Hanna frowned, turning her body into Caleb's as she looked up at him questioningly. "We're seeing the same film as them."

"There is no way I can sit there and watch a film knowing that your ex-boyfriend and his jock-strap friends are a row away from us."

"Caleb," She tried, "We've already paid for the tickets." She watched as Caleb pulled them out of his jacket pocket and tore them in half, "Caleb!"

"Change of plans," He said before grabbing her hand and leading her straight out of the cinema back towards their car.

"You wanted to see that film," She argued with him, tottering in her heels to keep up with him as he paced down the sidewalk.

"No," He stopped and spun around so quickly that she crashed into his chest, "I wanted to sit in the dark and make out with you under the false pretense that we were watching a movie."

"We can still make out," She tried, stroking his chest soothingly. He was so wound up.

"No," He said again, "Now I'm just thinking of you and him."

Hanna forced her lips onto his and pulled his head down with so much force that they were both slightly taken aback. His hands automatically ran up her back, holding her tightly against his chest as they mouths pushed hard against each other. Her hands were in his hair, tugging slightly as they fought for dominance. The need for air eventually became too much and they separated, both gasping for breath as they stood as close together as possible in the middle of a downtown Rosewood sidewalk. "I never kissed him like that," She whispered, closing her eyes as he held her head against his shoulder.

He hated himself for making her feel like she had to prove he was the only person she wanted to be with, but he'd worked so hard to get her back. He was reminded every time he looked at her that he was punching way out of his league. Add to that, the pain of his childhood made him naturally anxious about people he cared about leaving him at the drop of a hat and you had a guy who was more than a little put out about running into _the_ ex-boyfriend.

"Is your Mom in all night?" He eventually asked, squeezing her fingers before encouraging her to get into the car. He didn't want their date night to be fully ruined but he equally didn't want to go back to hers if her Mom was in and watching their every move.

"Yeah," Hanna bit her lip as she fastened her seatbelt. "But I know somewhere we can go."

* * *

"Just turn here," Caleb indicated at Hanna's words and pulled off the main road down a dirt path that headed into the woods surrounding the lake.

"Where are we?" He asked, completely disorientated as the road came to a stop.

"We're near the kissing rock," Hanna said quietly, looking down at her hands. "Ali used to say that when you go there you can feel the ghosts of the other lovers pushing you to do it," She added, "Kinda lame, right?"

Caleb leant over the central console and let his fingers ghost along her jawline, encouraging her to look at him, "I don't need any ghosts to push me," He grinned, tilting his head to connect their lips as he blindly tried to find the button for his seatbelt.

Hanna pulled back and hastily undid hers before she was climbing through the front seats into the back and Caleb was rushing to follow her. He covered her body with his and was all too happy to start kissing her all over again when she braced a hand on his shoulder and stopped him, "I never thought I'd bring someone here," She murmured, avoiding eye contact again.

"We're here now."

"Caleb," She looked him dead in the eye, "I haven't thought of Sean in a really long time."

"I know," He nodded, hovering on his forearms above her as her hair cascaded down the edge of the car seat.

"No," She shook her head, "I mean I don't know when I last thought about him. I mean it was before you, before… us."

"I know that," He repeated, nodding his head as her eyes searched his for confirmation. "I do." Her face softened and her lips formed a smile as her fingers toyed with the hair on his neck, "Now," His tone changed and a smirk graced his face as he edged closer to her, "Are you gonna let me take your kissing rock virginity or not?"

"Take it," She whispered, before she was swept away in waves of soft lips, crashing over hers and dragging her deeper and deeper. She gripped his shoulders as they kissed harder and a frown graced her face momentarily as she thought about her Mom's words. She was falling for Caleb and her short-term amnesia over Sean was the first sign she'd had that told her falling meant she loved him... was in love with him. But one sign wasn't enough and before she plucked up the courage to tell him exactly how she felt, she'd need something else. And she couldn't wait to find out whatever the hell that was.

* * *

 **What did you guys think? Want to read some more? Review and let me know x**


	2. The Grocery Store

**Wow, I am constantly amazed by the love the Haleb fandom is so willing to give out. I ran a poll on twitter to see what you guys wanted updated next and this won - I was legit so surprised because I expected Growth to win by a mile, but I am so happy you guys are all loving this as much as I'm loving writing this.**

 **I hope this drabble series is everything you guys want! Enjoy...**

* * *

" _Little things, like going to the grocery store, are better when he_ _'_ _s around_ _"_

* * *

"Are you hungry?" Hanna asked as she stood in front of an open fridge.

"Is this the point where you offer me food that you don't have?" Caleb quirked an eyebrow, grinning as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"We have eggs," Her voice was muffled as she turned back around and stuck her head into the first shelf to try and find something else that was edible. "I can make you an omelette," She added, pulling out the food in question.

Caleb took the box from her and grimaced as he read the label, "No thanks," He said as the date jumped out at him, "I think I might get food poisoning."

"What?" Hanna snatched the box back from him, "I could literally kill my Mom," She started to rant, opening up the bin and tossing the food. "Who leaves gone off eggs in the fridge for their starving daughter to eat?" She moaned, moving to the sink to wash her hands.

"A mother who works and doesn't have time to check every item of food we have," A voice interrupted. "Hi Caleb," Ashley Marin smiled at their guest as she sauntered into the kitchen to get a drink; well, that was her excuse to make it seem like she wasn't checking up on them when really, that was exactly what she was doing.

"Hi Mrs. Marin," He swallowed nervously. He still couldn't tell if she liked him or not and whenever they were at Hanna's and she was there too, he felt a little on edge, like he couldn't fully relax. He knew it was stupid and as soon as she'd leave the room and he was alone with Hanna, he went right back to being his usual self. But after the way things had unfortunately ended last time, he wanted to make up for it with the best second impression he could give.

"Ashley," She corrected him, shooting him a reassuring smile.

"We have no food," Hanna told her pointedly, moving to sit on the bar stool next to Caleb before she proceeded to grumpily prop her head on her hands.

"I know," Ashley raised her eyebrows, "The food fairy forgot to visit this week."

"I'm hungry."

"Hanna," Ashley sighed, "You have legs and a purse, you can go to the grocery store on your own accord."

"No I can't," Hanna argued, "You know I hate going there."

"How can you hate going to a grocery store," Caleb looked at her with intrigue written all over his face as his lips battled a grin.

"Do you want to tell him or shall I?" Ashley looked at her daughter, taunting her with her eyes.

"There's nothing to tell," She tried to play it off innocently, rubbing her lips together as she looked around the room for an excuse, "Is that the time? The Justin Bieber special's on TV."

"I'm not watching that," Caleb laughed, trying to discreetly place a hand on her lower back. "Besides," He grinned, "I wanna hear why you hate the grocery store so much."

"I got banned, okay!" She finally spouted, hiding her head in her hands.

"What?" Caleb started to laugh, looking to Ashley for confirmation.

"They caught me eating a tub of ice cream without paying for it," She explained, blushing as she buckled under his gaze, "I was eight," She cringed, "And I will _never_ forget the way the store manager looked at me. It puts me on edge every time I go."

"I'm sorry," Caleb raised his eyebrows, "You haven't been in the grocery store since you were _eight_."

"Oh she's been," Ashley folded her arms, "But she spends the entire time looking over her shoulder to see if the same store manager's going to appear and ban her all over again."

"Don't look at me like that," Hanna pouted, yanking his arm away.

"Why?" Caleb grinned, "It's cute that you're scared of it," He said, "But I'm pretty sure they won't have the same store manager as they did eight years ago."

"It's the one type of shopping I hate," Hanna shivered, knowing exactly what he was getting at.

"I'm hungry," He pushed her, "And feeding me gone off eggs is not going to cut it."

"Even the eggs are out of date?" It was Ashley's turn to cringe, "This fridge really needs a serious clean out," She muttered, moving over to inspect the silver beast. "Hanna, if you're going to the store, can you get some multi-surface cleaner?"

"I'm not going," Hanna looked at her Mom like she'd asked the most ludicrous question.

"Yes, we are," Caleb argued, "The store manager's not gonna hurt you Han."

"It's the worst thing you could ask me to do," She whined, refusing to move.

"You'd seriously rather see me starve than go food shopping with me?"

"Yes." He glared at her answer and she quickly corrected it. "I mean no."

Ashley watched the pair in amusement and pursed her lips, "Just think of it as one of those little things you have to do to pay off the Betsey Johnsons you came home with last week."

* * *

40 minutes later and Hanna was rooted to the spot, gripping the steering wheel with fear as she shot daggers at the automatic doors. "Babe," Caleb tried, reaching a hand out to try and pry her fingers away from the leather before they turned white. "Why is this freaking you out so much?" He asked with genuine disbelief in her voice. "It's just a chore."

"Because," She started, letting him take her hand and lace their fingers before he brought them to his lips to kiss, "I hate it, okay?" She said, "I hate how that memory makes me feel."

"Hanna, you were eight," He replied, "I know I stole a load of food when I was a kid, it's fine."

"You were probably hungry," She frowned, "I was just fat and couldn't wait for my Dad to pay for it."

"They shouldn't have even banned you. So what, you were a kid and ate like one tub."

"And a kitkat."

"And a kitkat."

"And a jumbo bag of doritos."

"And a – _what_ … how much could you fit in your stomach?"

She smiled finally and shot him a small glance. "I really liked my food," She bit her lip.

"Well I really like you," He whispered, holding her chin between his finger and thumb.

"Oh yeah?" She challenged him with her eyes.

"Yeah," He murmured, moving his body forward to press a tantalizingly slow kiss against her lips.

She sighed against his mouth and pulled away when she couldn't fight the grin that wrestled to grace her face, "I really like you too," She said, her words shining through her glazed eyes as she looked at him, deliriously happy.

"Come on," He leant back, reaching for the door handle, "I'm hungry."

"Fine," Hanna sighed, rolling her eyes as she climbed out of the car too.

"It's not that bad," Caleb said, holding his hand out for her to take.

"I know," She agreed, holding onto his fingers as she swung her bag over her shoulder and blindly pressed the lock button as she aimed the keys at the car, "It's just like, one of those little things I hate doing."

He squeezed her hand, "You got the list?" He asked, grabbing a cart before they made their way inside.

"Yep," She sighed again, letting go of his hand to fish it out of her bag. "Okay, first thing is… organic Bluetta blueberries."

"What the hell did you just say?" Caleb frowned, stealing the list out of her grasp. "Organic Bluetta blueberries," He repeated, still staring at the words like they were written in a foreign language, "Why can't we just get normal blueberries?" He asked as he followed Hanna towards the fruit section.

"My Mom's on this weird organic challenge that she agreed to do with Mrs Montgomery at their last cheese and wine night," Hanna rolled her eyes, "Yesterday she tried to get me to drink organic water."

"But it's water."

"Yeah, I know," She smiled sarcastically, "And it was still almost forced down my throat." He could sense she was annoyed and to temper her mood, he reached out to wrap an arm around her waist before pulling her in front of him. "Caleb!" She shrieked as he pinned her against the handle of the cart with her back against his chest.

"What?" He murmured, pulling her hair to the side so that he could press a gentle kiss against her neck.

"We're in the middle of the aisle," She tried, but the smile on her face told him she was enjoying every minute of it, just as much as he was.

"So?" He questioned, grinning as he let his lips deviate back to the tender exposed skin.

"Caleb," She whispered again, "Stop," She laughed, turning her head to let him kiss her properly, "Mmm," She moaned against his lips, before pushing his chest away, "Seriously, we need to get all this stuff for my Mom."

"Now who's the one who wants to buy food," He shook his head, squeezing her butt before letting her push the cart away from him towards the groceries. The look she shot him over her shoulder told him she knew exactly what she was doing.

* * *

After managing to find almost every item requested by Ashley Marin, Hanna and Caleb had split up to get the last couple of things on the list. But, that had been ten minutes ago and with a full trolley, Hanna was slightly concerned over her boyfriend's whereabouts. Surely it wasn't that hard to locate some multi-surface cleaner and return to their last known location.

 _Where are you?_ She texted him quickly, dumping her bag on the child seat as she started to slowly wheel the cart towards the other end of the store.

 _Aisle 19_

"What's aisle 19?" Hanna muttered to herself as she moved through the shop. This was when she wished she'd paid more attention when her mother was shopping, rather than just trying to think about her escape route all the time. "Caleb?" She called when she spotted him, parking the cart before making her way over to him.

"Hey," He grinned at her.

"Why are you smiling like that?" She asked suspiciously, before taking in exactly what he was looking at. " _Caleb_!" She somehow managed to shriek and whisper at the same time, slapping his arm as they found themselves stood in front of the family planning section. "What if one of my Mom's friends sees us?" She asked as he pulled her into his arms and tried to ease the tension that had just covered her face.

"Then she'll tell your Mom we're being safe," He shrugged, closing his eyes as he captured her lips with his own. Her fingers naturally ran through his hair and he moaned lightly as their mouths opened and slanted over one another.

"Stop," She mumbled again, her hands trailing down his shoulders to rest on his chest. "I told you," She added, staring up at him as he held her close, "I'm not easy."

He squeezed her against him and caught her mouth again, "I don't want you to be easy," He murmured, his mind naturally flickering to the same place as hers. "We haven't had sex for a reason, Han."

"You mean again," She said, tilting her head to the side, "Haven't had sex again."

"Trust me," He replied, "I know I mean again."

She stared at his chest and avoided eye contact as she bit her lip anxiously, "I just… It means a lot to me and I don't regret our first time, but I don't wanna regret our second either," She explained as softly as she could. She did want to be with Caleb again, but it had taken a lot for her to trust him and get to where they were, and with her feelings flying around, she almost wanted to wait until she knew where was with… the _'L'_ word.

"I know," He reassured her as best as he could, "I'm not with you for that. I mean… I am with you for that," He cringed as soon as the words left his mouth, "I mean not just that, but I don't want to be with anyone else for that."

Hanna twisted her arms around his neck and pushed her lips onto his to shut him up, a smile gracing both of their lips as they kissed slowly. He let her lead, nudging his nose against hers as she moved their lips against each other, instinctively opening her mouth to let their tongues meet. Only Caleb could say that in the middle of a grocery store and still make her feel like they were the only two people in the world. Maybe she was ready. "We should get some," She eventually said, chewing on her bottom lip as her heart beat her head.

His face mirrored hers and he fought a smile before ducking his head to press a gentle kiss against her jawline, "They sell organic ones," He whispered, loving the laugh that emanated from her at his words.

"Well, seeing as my Mom's paying," She raised her eyebrows, "Why break tradition?" She murmured, interlinking their fingers as he turned towards the shelves and browsed what was on offer.

"Will she not check the receipt?" He asked, picking out a box.

"She never does," Hanna said, looking at the box Caleb handed her. She blushed, the blood rushing to her cheeks as she nervously looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was around, "Extra thin?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she read the writing on the box.

"I just don't want anything to come between us."

The rosy pink hue on her cheeks only intensified and she buried her head against his chest to hide the embarrassment that was gracing her face. "Can we just go pay for these?" She pleaded, "Before anyone I remotely know sees us?"

Caleb wrapped his arms around her neck and nodded, grinning down at her, "Uh huh," He agreed, kissing her gently.

"Hanna?" A voice pulled them apart and sent two heads whipping up to see the source of the noise.

"Mrs Montgomery," Hanna smiled nervously and stepped at least three inches away from Caleb. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Ella smiled, "Has your Mom sent you out to do the grocery shop?" She asked, nodding towards the full cart.

"Yeah," Hanna fidgeted nervously, "We have no food in the house."

"Food shopping with me is Aria's worst nightmare," Ella shot Hanna a knowing look, "I'm sure it'd be different if she went with a boyfriend instead. Anyway, say hi to your Mom for me."

"I will Mrs. Montgomery," Hanna cringed, breathing a sigh of relief as soon as the older woman turned her back and carried on down the aisle. "I want a hole to swallow me up," She started to freak out, charging back towards their cart with Caleb hot on her tail. "Do you think she saw? I think she saw."

"Hanna, breathe."

"I can't breathe," She argued, holding a hand against her head. "She saw us buying condoms."

"We could have been buying vitamins."

"I had a box of extra thin condoms in my hand, Caleb, we were not buying vitamins."

"Okay," Caleb tried to calm her down, "I know, it looks bad but she might not say anything."

"This is so bad," Hanna moaned, walking off towards the checkout. "Can we just get out of here?" She asked, starting to unload their cart onto the conveyor belt.

"Hey," Caleb stopped her, cupping her cheek and drawing her face close to his, "It's gonna be fine," He said, stroking his thumb over her soft skin. She visibly relaxed and he felt relief flood his body when she nodded. "And I'm pretty sure this was the best grocery shop you've ever had."

Hanna tilted her head and bit her lip again, smiling up at him as she nodded. "Yeah, it is," She conceded, gripping his waist as he leant down to press a soft, tender kiss against her lips. He pulled back and hovered his face over hers, unable to resist stealing one more moment with her as they stood near the checkouts for everyone to see. She sighed against his mouth as she let her thoughts of him and grocery shopping and her feelings consume her, completely oblivious to Ella Montgomery standing at the end of the aisle, watching them and booking in her next cheese and wine night with the girls.

Grocery shopping wasn't supposed to be this fun.

It was a sign.

* * *

 **Review?**


	3. The Beanie Baby

**Yas, so glad you're all enjoying baby Haleb. Thank you for all the precious reviews.**

 **Pll. ~ nope, they didn't have sex in chapter 1. He just took her kissing rock virginity as in, being kissed at the kissing rock, so these chapters are in chronological order and they will continue to be :)**

 **All these signs are basically culminating towards Hanna realising that she loves Caleb and is ready to give herself to him fully again.**

 **Guest ~ haha, Ashley might not walk in on them having sex but that doesn't mean she won't walk in on something else tehe**

 **This turned slightly dirty... sorry...**

* * *

 _"You're not worried about scaring him off"_

* * *

Hanna Marin was in a bad mood.

School had been boring as hell, Aria had skipped the one lesson of the day they had together and Mr. Samuels had been a bitch and given her math class 40 questions to complete for tomorrow. She was struggling to see how it could have been made any worse until A dropped a well-timed message to remind her that she was still an ever-present cyber frenemy.

The only thing that was providing light relief was the fact that her Mom was away on a business trip. And as she walked through her front door, the first thing she wanted to do was strip off naked and use her Mom's bath salts to ease the tension of the day out of her body. Maybe she'd call Caleb and tell him just how much of her Mom's dreamy $200 moisturizer she'd be rubbing into her skin afterwards too.

She stomped up the stairs, fully intending to do nothing but lie on her bed and procrastinate until she found the energy to move from her mattress to the bath, but the sight that met her as she walked into her bedroom was one that sent a frown rippling across her face. "What…" She trailed off, taking in the bags of clothes and keepsakes that littered her room. This was not how she'd left it this morning.

She was just about to start throwing the stuff that was on her bed onto the floor when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID; it was her Mom and she knew exactly why she was calling. "Hi," She huffed, shoving a teddy bear out of the way so that she could sit down.

"Don't be mad," Ashley started, "But your father came round looking for an antique vase that was in the spare room."

"Why does he have to come and get one from our house?" Hanna scoffed – her Dad only ever came round because he wanted _something_ , "Can't he just buy one from the store."

"Because it's antique," Ashley rolled her eyes, "And apparently it will look nice in the new living room Isobel's designing."

"Well so did my room before all this crap got dumped in here," She rolled onto her front and looked at a stuffed monkey, throwing it across the room in disdain.

"And it will look nice again once you've sorted through all of your junk and taken everything that you don't want to the thrift store in town."

"Hey, this stuff is not rubbish," Hanna defended despite her earlier claim, as she spotted the summer skirts she'd been storing in the spare room. It wasn't her fault that a girl needed to keep her off-season wardrobe separate from the current autumn-winter necessities. "Florals aren't in right now but that doesn't mean I'm going to give away my Tory Burch skirt."

"Hanna," Ashley rolled her eyes again, starting to feel slightly exasperated already, "I don't want to come home and find all you've done is put it back in the spare room. It's for guests, not your clothes."

"Fine."

"Now I've left money on the side for dinner," Ashley started.

"When are you back?" Hanna interrupted her, standing up to fully assess the damage her Mom had managed to cause to her previously immaculate room.

"Two days," She replied, "Don't live off pizza."

"I won't," The blonde said, picking up a bag of beanie babies as she wedged the phone between her shoulder and ear, "I'll live off Thai."

"Hanna."

"I'm joking," She defended, shaking her head in slight disbelief, "But I might need soup dumplings and walnut shrimp when I have to decide whether to keep Dolce or Gabbana," She pouted and held up two teddy bears that were staring straight at her.

"Do they deliver?"

"No," Hanna sighed, "I'll just get Caleb to bring it over."

"Do I need to remind you of the rules whilst I'm out of town?" Ashley tucked a stray hair behind her ear as she waited for Hanna to answer.

"No," She eventually dragged out, "We know the rules."

"So you won't have him in your room?"

"No… No of course not," Hanna shook her head, trying to sound as convincing as possible. In all honesty, she hadn't intended to invite Caleb over – she'd completely forgotten her Mom was away until she walked through the front door – but now that she'd been reminded, well… she'd lied to her mother.

"Hanna, I mean it."

"And so do I," She retorted, "Do you think I want him to help me decide between Swirly the snail and…" She paused as she reached for a panda beanie baby, "Peking the panda?" She said, pulling open the tag to find out the name. "No thank you, guys do not like dealing with baggage."

"I don't want to have this conversation over the phone."

"Then wait 'til you're back."

"But," Ashley carried on despite Hanna's attempts to shut her up, "I think we need to go to the Health Center."

"No," Hanna snapped, "Why?"

"Because sweetheart, I am far too young to be a grandmother."

"We're not even doing it!" She shrieked, collapsing back against her pillows.

"Hanna, stop lying to me."

"I'm not lying!" Hanna's laughed in disbelief, "We're not."

"Then why did Ella see you buying condoms?"

 _Silence._

"We're still not doing it," Hanna whispered, not really knowing what to say. "I'm telling you the truth."

Ashley sighed. She knew deep down that Hanna was being honest with her, but she was also her beautiful naïve daughter who she felt didn't truly understand the consequences of unprotected sex; she struggled to look after herself let alone somebody else. And it was pretty clear to her that even if her little girl wasn't having sex already, it was imminent. She'd caught enough tongues down throats, enough hands under t-shirts and enough sultry glances between the two to know that they were slowly tumbling down the delicious path from teenage lust to love. And when Hanna loved, her rational thinking went out of the window.

"Okay, I believe you," Ashley eventually said, "But honey, we're still going to your doctors and we're still talking about the condoms when I'm back."

"Fine," Hanna huffed, fully knowing she was now fighting a battle she was _not_ going to win. "Now can I please be left alone to sort out my room?"

Ashley closed her eyes and tried to simmer the hurt that boiled up at Hanna's words, "I'll see you when I get back."

"Yep," Hanna muttered, picking at a nail.

"Be good, don't live off Thai."

"Bye."

"Love you honey."

Hanna's resolve crumbled slightly, "Love you too Mom," She said gently before she pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up, throwing it down onto her bed. She frowned and whimpered as she processed the conversation they'd just had; why did parents have to talk so much. Those condoms had stayed foiled up and firmly in Caleb's underwear draw ever since they'd bought them. Mrs. Montgomery had no right to be stirring the pot with her Mom.

Grabbing her phone, she shot off a text to Caleb, _My Mom knows about the condoms._

 _How?_ Was the instant response.

 _Ella told her._

 _But we haven't even used them,_ Caleb replied _._

 _I know. Come over?_ She sent the message, not even caring about the state of her room. She just wanted to see him right now.

 _10 mins_

* * *

"So she just told you Mrs. Montgomery told her?" Caleb asked as he lay on her bed surrounded by beanie babies. Hanna was pulling each one out of the plastic bag and lining them up as an attempt to put off sorting through the rest of the things that had been dumped in her room.

"Yep," She muttered, watching as he picked up a multi-colored lizard and held it above his head. "So now I'm being abducted and taken to the doctors," She rolled her eyes and shook her head as Caleb started to throw the beanie baby up in the air, "Careful," She told him, sticking her hand out to grab the squishy animal.

"Babe," He raised an eyebrow, "It's a toy."

"No," Hanna pouted, "It's Lizzy the lizard," She checked the tag before placing her back down in the line up.

"Why do you have so many anyway?" He asked, rolling onto his side and propping his head up on his hand.

"I used to collect them," She shrugged, picking up a unicorn to hold in front of his face, "Look how cute she is."

"You sound like Lucas," He rolled his eyes, "Who'd have thought I'd be living with a nerd _and_ dating one."

"I am not a nerd!" Hanna slapped his arm as he stole the unicorn from her, "I was just fat and searched for comfort in food and friendship in cuddly toys." She reached for the toy to steal it back, but he held it out of her reach. "Give her back," She mumbled, standing up to lean over his body.

He sat up and let her take the toy, "So was your Mom annoyed?" He changed the subject back to their initial topic of conversation, hoping he hadn't upset her too much with his comment.

Hanna shrugged nonchalantly as his fingers splayed over the back of her thigh, inching dangerously close to her butt as they danced up underneath her skirt, "She just said she's taking me to the doctors."

"Please tell me I don't have to come," He groaned, tugging on the front of his hoodie uneasily.

"Absolutely not," Hanna's eyes widened as she stepped away from him to start on the next bag of clothes. "It's embarrassing enough as it is."

Caleb watched her, his eyes flickering as a light smile graced his face, "And showing me your beanie baby collection isn't embarrassing?"

She glanced over her shoulder and shot him a look, "Why?" She asked, "Am I scaring you off?"

"No way," Caleb's brow furrowed as a grin tugged at his lips, "I'm dating an inner nerd."

She stopped separating a bag of tops into 'donate' and 'keep' and looked over at him, "I'm not a nerd," She argued, "They were my coping strategy," She said quietly, turning her head down to focus back on the clothes in front of her.

He stood up and moved over to her vanity chair so that he could be closer to her, "Hanna," He called her name softly, "Come here," He held his arms out, encouraging her over to him. She gave in – the look in his eyes always made her give in – and settled sideways on his lap, her arm hooking around his shoulders. "I don't want us to hide from each other."

"We're not," Hanna bit her lip and looked him in the eye, her fingers toying with the ends of his long hair.

"Nothing is going to scare me off."

"Not even my weird collection of beanie babies?"

"Would you have invited me over if you thought they would?" He ran a hand through her blonde curls, his thumb ghosting across the shell of her ear before he cupped her cheek.

"No," She shook her head slightly, looping her other arm around his neck too. After how much he'd fought to get her back, she knew nothing would scare him away.

He kissed her, gently at first as their mouths caressed each other before they were pushing harder; taking, wanting, devouring. It was touching and feeling and adoring and yearning; an all-consuming experience that was kissing Hanna Marin. They took as much as they could as he vaguely noted that she was pulling him up, holding onto the zipper on his hoodie and tugging him back towards her bed.

He _loved_ his lips on hers. He knew that. She knew that. And she knew that when all he could think about was the way their breaths were melting into one, she could do almost anything and he wouldn't notice. "Mm," He groaned as she pushed his hoodie off his shoulders, tossing it down into the pile of her clothes on the floor that was slowly getting bigger and bigger.

The back of her legs hit her mattress and he was guiding her down against her pillows, uncaring of the beanie babies that were now out of line and strewn around them. She tugged on his hair, swallowing his hiss as their tongues met and electricity jolted through their bodies. Making out with her boyfriend sent a fire through her body that never failed to disappoint.

She wanted more.

Her hand rested over his as it cupped her cheek and encouraged her to slant her mouth to the side. She rubbed slowly; her fingertips edging between the crevices of his fingers before he got the hint and let her take his palm in her own. She tugged it down, resting it just below her décolletage before she was pushing it down onto her breast. That was the light relief for the more she wanted, no, _needed_.

He groaned in surprise, his hand cupping naturally as his other found her waist to hold her in place. Even through two layers of material, the feel of his hand over her sent bolts of pleasure jolting through her body. She let him have his way with her, holding his head as his lips deviated from hers to find that one sensitive spot just behind her earlobe before returning back to her lips.

"Oh," She gasped into his mouth as his free hand headed south, rubbing her thigh as it worked it's way up underneath her skirt before settling on her hip. He was settled in between her legs and all it served to do was remind her of their first night together; it didn't help that she could feel his arousal pressing against her too.

She grabbed his hand again, guiding it further south. She sensed his alarm straight away and he pulled his lips off hers as sat up slightly, stilling all movement. "Caleb," Her voice reassured him as she reached for the zipper on her skirt and tugged it down, throwing it off to the side. _Thank God_ she'd had a wax recently and chosen to wear a nice lacey thong that day. "Not everything," She mumbled, looking away awkwardly.

He frowned and used a hand to force her face back to his, "I know," He whispered, "I know," He placed a gentle kiss against her lips. "You sure?"

She nodded and pushed her mouth on his again, focusing on his lips and tongue and breath as she tried to hide her nerves. Sure they'd had sex, but they were in a tent and it was dark. This was her telling him she was ready to be intimate again – laying herself bare, quite literally – and hoping he'd still want her.

"You are so amazing," He mumbled against her mouth, slanting his head as his fingers toyed with the top of her thong. He let his fingertips tease her skin, dipping slightly lower until he pulled them out and cupped her fully on top of the material. She gasped as he started to rub up and down, pushing into her slightly as they dipped lower before returning to the top of the lace and ghosting slowly over her nub.

He smiled against her mouth. She was the most open book and he knew exactly what she liked, even if she didn't know herself yet. Their night together would be etched in his mind forever; the way she mewled against his touch, moaned against his mouth and surrendered herself to him fully. He'd replayed it over in his mind enough times.

He danced over the material some more, teasing her for as long as he could atke until he could tell just how wet she'd become and he had to feel her fully. He pushed the scrap of lace to the side, his tongue caressing hers in time with his fingers as they teased and toyed at her entrance. "Still sure?" He checked quickly as she laced her hands through his hair.

"Don't stop," She gasped and nodded, squeezing her eyes shut as his thumb pressed against her clit.

"Never," He grinned, his mouth delving back in to take again and again as his middle finger finally pushed all the way into her. He moaned himself; she was still so tight, so wet and her walls instinctively clenched around his finger. It felt incredible and he could only think of what it would feel around another part of his anatomy. She jerked her hips against his slightly and he started to pump slowly, his thumb still occasionally circling her clit as she pulled away from his mouth to simply focus on breathing.

He kissed the side of her mouth as she gripped his t-shirt and he pushed another finger into her. "Caleb," She moaned breathlessly, so uncaring of how she looked right now in front of him.

"Good?" He murmured, his soft lips moving their way down to her jaw as his movements sped up.

"I…" She stuttered, feeling the wave building.

"I know," He encouraged her, cradling her head with his elbow as he carried on with his ministrations. He'd memorized every sign that told him he was taking her over the precipice. His fingers started to stroke inside of her and she gasped, the swell of pleasure circling and swirling until she tightened and went under, searching for his mouth and holding him there as her lips moaned and her center pooled with wet heat.

He held her as she rode it out, pumping occasionally as her wetness surrounded his fingers and her walls rippled. They both eventually stilled, faces flushed as foreheads rest on one another and eyes connected. He pulled his fingers out, cupping her one final time before he brought them to his lips and licked them clean. "Caleb," Her cheeks bloomed as she watched him.

"What?" He grinned teasingly, "How else am I going to clean them?" She bit her lip and shook her head at him, fighting a smile as she reached for his jeans button. "No." He stopped her, his hand grabbing hers.

"But…"

"No," He repeated, kissing the side of her face as he settled on his side and pulled her against his chest. "Not now," He whispered, reaching behind him to pull out whatever was jabbing him in the back.

He laughed as his hand produced an orange beanie baby. "Oh God," She wanted to hide as he reached up to read the tag.

"Digger the crab enjoyed the show," He murmured, letting her steal the toy from him and throw it across the room.

"Stop it," She cringed, wanting the ground to swallow her up.

"Hey," He frowned, soothing away her worry, "They're just part of who you are," He whispered, nudging his nose against hers, "And there is nothing about you that is going to scare me off." He reassured her, pressing a tender kiss against her lips. "Seriously."

She nodded up at him, completely taken in buy his pooling eyes. She believed every single word he said.

Beanie babies weren't supposed to have this effect.

It was a sign.

* * *

 **Like?**

 **In other news, I posted the last chapter of Restraints so go check it out if you haven't read it yet.. I will 99% be writing an epilogue because hey I've had their baby's name planned since chapter 1 aha**

 **Review lovelies x**


	4. The Text

**Okay... gulp... this kind of took on a life of it's own. It's slightly out of character but what the heck, Hanna asked him a big question and Caleb is clearly a male teenager.**

 **Guest ~ returning the favour will not be too far away tehe**

 **AshleyFan1999 ~ good! i'm so glad**

 **Guest ~ re Hanna waxing aha, well I guess she's like 17 right? I feel like I know girls who started younger, but anyhow I added some more context in this chap**

 **Pllforever ~ suggestions all noted!**

 **h0neybunny16 ~ you really do... or just take control from your brother haha**

 **Okay guys... Enjoy...**

* * *

" _You don't freak out if he doesn't text back right away"_

* * *

"Why are we back here, folding programmes for the…" Hanna huffed, carefully folding the piece of coloured card in half, "Planetarium show at Hollis?"

"Because my Mom's on the organizing committee and she asked me to do this for her," Spencer explained, grabbing another piece of flat card to fold.

"This was supposed to be a sleepover, not an opportunity to use slave labour," Hanna muttered, throwing a folded booklet onto the pile.

"You're folding card, Hanna," Emily rolled her eyes.

"So," Hanna shrugged, "I'm still being forced."

"Then stop folding!" Spencer snapped, resigning herself to the fact that Hanna was clearly not in a helpful mood that night, "Just sit there and text Caleb or something."

Hanna shot Aria a knowing look, "Whoa," She let out a low noise, looking off to the side awkwardly.

"I'm sorry," Spencer immediately corrected herself, "There's just a lot going on with Ian and Jason and A."

"Hey," Aria stopped her, "We said no A talk tonight."

"And no family talk either," Hanna agreed, "We've all got problems there that we don't want to rehash," She said wryly, reaching for another booklet to fold.

"Fine," Spencer agreed, thinking of a new topic of conversation, "So Em, are you looking forward to moving into Hanna's?"

"It's going to be so much fun," Hanna didn't give Emily a chance to speak, bouncing up and down on the bed excitedly, "We can paint our nails, talk about guys, wait no, I mean girls."

"Pretty sure Caleb's not a girl," Emily grinned.

"No, he is definitely not," She murmured, looking down in embarrassment.

"Hanna!" Aria shrieked, throwing a pillow at her.

"What?" She laughed in disbelief, "I'm sure we can all vouch for the gender of our boyfriends _and_ girlfriends."

"You're the only one of us here who's had sex," Spencer looked at her deadpan.

" _Owls_ ," Emily teased her, enjoying the blush that covered her cheeks far too much.

"So I've had sex once," Hanna shrugged, "We're not doing it at the moment."

"My Mom caught you buying condoms," Aria tilted her head and looked at her incredulously.

"She what?!" Emily fell back laughing, "Oh my god Han."

"Were you by yourself?" Spencer asked, all thoughts of the brochures that needed to be folded completely forgotten.

"No," Hanna threw her head back and sighed, "I was with Caleb," She said, reclining back against the pillows on the bed. "And it would have been fine, but then she told my Mom and now she just keeps trying to talk to me about it. There are only so many times I can say I need to go to the grocery store."

"But you hate the grocery store," Emily looked confused.

"Exactly…" Hanna shot her a knowing look as her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Aria scrunched up her shoulders apologetically, "My Mom can be a littleprotective."

"So why aren't you and Caleb having sex?" Spencer asked bluntly, "I'm pretty sure I see you exchanging spit on a regular basis."

"Jeez," Hanna tried to palm her off, "What happened to the hopeless romantic from our last leaflet session?"

" _She_ has not had a text back from her boyfriend," Spencer muttered, trying to keep her annoyance as casual as possible. Hanna bit her lip to hide a grin as she observed her friend. "I know," Spencer moaned as she caught Hanna's look, "It's ridiculous," She agreed, grabbing her phone, "But it's been 23 minutes and usually he's really good."

"O-b-s-e-s-e-d."

"You missed out an 's' Hanna."

"And you need to get laid Spencer," The blonde said, hugging a cushion on her lap.

"And we're back onto the topic of sex," Emily rolled her eyes, leaning back to rest her head on Hanna's shoulder. "Will I even be safe staying at your house?"

"Yes!" Hanna shrieked, "We're not doing it."

"But you're doing other stuff," Aria muttered, trying to act as innocent as possible.

"Aria," Hanna snapped, "That was supposed to be a secret."

"Hey," Spencer shot, "We don't have secrets," Emily couldn't help but look up at her disbelievingly, "About boys," Spencer finished. "We don't have secrets about boys… or girls."

"Clearly somebody does," Emily lifted her head to look at Hanna pointedly.

"No," Hanna shook her head quietly, "I wasn't keeping it from you guys, it's just kind of…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Personal?" Aria filled in for her.

"Oh, so the two who are getting action can chat about it, but we can't?"

"Em," Hanna couldn't help but roll her eyes at her friend's dramatics, "Do you really want me to talk to you about how it felt when Caleb fingered me and then ask you if it felt the same?"

"No," Emily conceded, "I guess not."

"Was it good?" Spencer couldn't help but ask.

"Yes," Hanna finally caved in, "Although we were surrounded by beanie babies and I wore the total wrong thong," She moaned, "You know, the type that's cotton lace, not satin?"

"Tell me you were… prepped?" Spencer asked imploringly.

"Oh she was prepped alright," Aria said quietly as she raised her eyebrows, looking down to reach for another brochure.

Emily looked at the brunette with disbelief, "And what does that mean? Something else you're not telling us?"

"It means… I had to hold Hanna's hand as she got a wax and cried like a baby."

"Hey, that wax was hot!"

"It was normal temperature," Aria argued.

"It was my first time, okay?" Hanna defended herself, "It's not normal to have somebody else sticking their head between your legs before using a hand action that's faster than a Justin Bieber hair flick."

"Is that what you say to Caleb too?" Spencer said smugly.

"Ha-ha," Hanna rolled her eyes, "He definitely wasn't complaining."

"I bet he wasn't," She murmured, holding a hand up to bat away the cushion that Hanna threw at her in response.

"Has Toby replied?" Emily decided to change the subject, reaching over to the bedside table to grab her own phone.

Spencer looked down at the screen and smiled, "Yes, he has."

"Ooooh," Hanna started as she watched all three girls texting on their phones, "Let's play a game."

"Hanna, we're not 10."

"No," She grinned, grabbing her phone off the side too, "An adult game. I read about it in cosmo."

"I'm game," Aria said.

"Me too," Emily agreed, before they all turned to look at Spencer expectantly as she sat there quietly.

"Fine," She groaned, rolling her eyes, "What do we have to do?"

"This is going to be so much fun," Hanna bounced up and down on the bed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Okay, so we all need to send the same text to one person in our phonebook and see what they reply."

"How is that a game?" Spencer snarked.

"The loser is the person with the worst response and they have to answer any question we ask them," She explained.

"What's the question?" Aria asked, ready to pull up whatever number she wanted.

"What's your number one fantasy about me?"

* * *

After several minutes of freaking out, all the girls had finally sent off the text to their significant others. Hanna had found it hilarious how Spencer had not stopped blushing since she'd hit send but she couldn't blame her best friend; she was feeling a little flushed herself at the thought of what Caleb might send back. Things had definitely taken a physical turn recently.

"Okay, he hasn't replied," Aria worried, starting to pace at the bottom of the bed. "What if he thinks I'm like some slut who'll just throw it down whenever?"

"Really Aria?" Emily shot her a warning look as she started to pace too. "Because you haven't just sent that to somebody you're in a relationship with, have you? Some of us are really putting ourselves out there right now."

"Some of us have only just got their boyfriend to text them back!" Spencer shrieked, burying her head into her pillows, "Now he definitely won't be replying."

They all turned to look at Hanna and wait for her complaint, "He's probably busy," She shrugged casually, moving over to her bag to pull out a pair of pyjamas,

"How are you this relaxed?" Emily asked, tugging unhappily on the sleeve of her t-shirt.

Hanna shrugged, "He's probably just watching a movie or something."

"That and she knows that Caleb will get it up for her."

"Excuse you," Hanna choked at Spencer's words as she pulled her top off and started to change, "Please focus on your own boyfriend."

"I can't deal with this," Aria muttered, her pacing increasing as she began to try and wear a hole into the carpet. She was just about ready to throw her phone out the window in regret when it pinged tauntingly.

Everybody stopped and looked up, waiting for her to read out the message. "Aria," Spencer snapped when she didn't say anything.

"Anything with you," Aria sighed happily, flopping backwards onto the bed as she held her phone against her chest gleefully.

"I want to vomit," Emily murmured with deep concern as she thought about Samara's lack of response. Her text completely contradicted the conversation they'd had about wanting to take it slow and she couldn't help but worry about what the other girl was thinking.

"Me too," Hanna scrunched her face up with disgust, "That's so not an answer."

"Yes it is," Aria mumbled, her eyes still shut in relief as she refused to let go of her phone.

"Me!" Emily squealed as her phone buzzed too. Her eyes scanned the message as quickly as possible before she decided it was appropriate to read aloud, "In the dress from the fashion show and in the earrings I picked out…"

"Cute," Hanna grinned, wrapping an arm around Emily and squeezing her shoulder reassuringly as she climbed onto the bed and rested her head on Hanna's shoulder in pure respite.

"That's really sweet, Em," Aria agreed.

"Seriously, it's been half an hour," Spencer continued to pace in front of them, uncaring of the responses her two friends had received, "Is he ignoring me?"

"Tell me I'm not like this," Hanna muttered in Emily's ear.

"You're not," Emily patted her leg reassuringly.

"He's typing!" Spencer yelled, her feet glued to the spot as she waited for the little blue bubble to appear, "Are you serious?"

"What does it say?" Aria sat up, looking at Spencer with concern.

"No, that's what he's said, are you serious?"

"Say yes," Hanna stood up and ran over to snatch the phone from her hands, responding before Spencer had a chance to do anything. "He's typing again," She said, biting her lip as they all waited a few more seconds to see what Toby had to say, "Oh my god," Hanna muttered, "Oh my god!"

"What?" Emily sat up too.

"Ew ew ew! I should not be reading this!"

"Gimme," Spencer snatched her phone back, immediately starting to read the message, "You in my truck, teaching me French wearing your red bra."

"Spence," Emily said in shock, her hand going to her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

"Clearly we're not the only ones who've been getting a little action," Aria looked at Hanna.

"Look how red she is!" Hanna laughed, settling herself back on the bed next to Emily.

"Seriously, can Caleb just reply so all this attention can be on someone else?" Spencer tried, "Check your phone."

"He hasn't," Hanna shrugged, knowing her phone was on loud, "He's probably just doing something with Lucas," She said, casually checking her phone for any messages. The screen was blank but she wasn't put out by it. She trusted Caleb; she didn't need to be in constant contact with him and she'd prefer that he actually put some thought into his top fantasy rather than just reply straight away.

"How are you not freaked out that he hasn't text you back?"

"I guess I just don't need proof to know he's thinking about me," She said quietly, shrugging as she looked down at her pedicure to avoid eye contact.

"Giving him a second chance was the best decision," Aria reached out to squeeze her knee.

Hanna looked up and smiled at her, "It was," She agreed as her phone started to ring. "It's him," She said, "I'm just gonna take this," She added, grabbing her phone and heading out of the earshot towards Spencer's bathroom. "Hey," She answered, shutting the door quietly behind her before she perched herself on the edge of the bath.

"Hey yourself," She could hear him grinning down the phone. "Where are you?"

"At Spencer's," She fiddled with the hem of her pajama top. "In the bathroom, where are you?"

Caleb glanced towards the bedroom door he'd just closed, "I just left Lucas watching E.T.," He said, "The kid is obsessed."

"Sounds fun," She smiled.

"It was," He agreed, "Until I looked at my phone and saw your message."

"Oh."

"Yeah," He said, " _Oh_."

"I'm sorry," Her voice feathered as he grunted down the phone. She could just picture him flopping back on his bunk bed, her heart clenching at the mental image. A huge part of her wanted to be where he was right now.

"You should be," He agreed, "It gave me a serious problem."

"How serious?" She teased him, chewing on her fingernails as she waited for a response. This was new ground for their relationship, but in that moment, she wanted to head there more than ever.

"Is your door locked?" He murmured, wedging his phone between his shoulder and ear as he unzipped his jeans. He felt like their recent beanie baby session had broken down a barrier in their relationship.

Hanna froze momentarily as she heard rustling before she regained her senses and flipped the lock on the door, "What are you doing?" She whispered, sitting herself back down on the bathtub.

"Thinking about you," He said slowly, "Are you thinking about me?"

"Yes," She gulped without hesitation, "I'm thinking about us," She said, awkwardly rubbing her neck as she felt heat start to pool between her thighs. This could not be happening to her as she sat there in Spencer's bathroom at a sleepover.

"I'm thinking about you," He said again, deeply, tenderly, as he reached for his cock that was already straining against his boxers. Only Hanna could get him into this state with one text. As soon as he'd read it, the blood had rushed to his groin and he'd had to think of an excuse to walk out of the living room backwards. "I'm thinking about you in the shower," He grunted, his hand starting to move up and down as he verbalized everything he'd intended to put in his response to her. "And you're there with that plait in your hair," He added, starting to work himself slightly harder.

"Caleb," She groaned quietly, her eyes closing and her face contorting slightly as she pictured what he was describing.

"But this time, you're naked," He moaned, his hand picking up pace.

"So are you," She breathed, her free hand inadvertently running to her chest to lightly squeeze her breast. She wanted it to be his hand though, not her own.

"And we're under the water," He managed to say, "And you're wet."

"I am," She muttered, her eyes squeezed shut.

"And then I push you against the tiles," He said, his head thrown back against the pillow as his cock reacted to the images running through his head, "And I fuck you," He groaned louder, "God Han." Hanna's eyes flew open as she heard a noise near the door, but she told herself to ignore it as she focused back on the phone call. "And I kiss your ear," No, her mind was straight back to that place, "And it's like our first night."

"Harder," She frowned, biting down on her finger as she heard him grunt before heavy breathing filled the line, suppressed moans fighting their way out until it went quiet.

"That's my fantasy," He eventually said, lying drained on his bed as his body finally felt satiated. "Want me to reply?" He smirked, when he received no response.

"No," Hanna gulped, "No, don't reply."

"Han?" A knock came at the door, loud enough for Caleb to hear.

"I'm fine," Hanna yelled back, hoping whoever it was would go away. "I should go," She mumbled, trying to think of anything that would clear her mind.

"You should," He agreed, his body still too comfortable to move. "Call me when everyone's asleep."

"I will," She said, wanting to prolong their conversation for as long as possible, "I'll still be thinking about you."

"Babe, I'll be thinking about you all night," He murmured, "Text me, okay?"

"Okay," She nodded, even though he couldn't see. "Bye."

"Bye."

She took one final moment to herself before flying out of the bathroom and trying to act as casual as possible. "What did he say?" Emily asked eagerly as soon as she appeared.

"He…" Hanna trailed off. She had no idea what to tell them. "He told me."

"Oh my god," Spencer looked at her knowingly, "You just had phone sex," She cringed, "You just had phone sex in my bathroom."

Hanna fell back onto the bed in the middle of all of them, "I just had phone sex… in your bathroom."

"Ew!"

"Trust me," Hanna sighed, "Not ew."

"Does this mean you lost?" Aria asked, lying next to her.

"Yeah, I think it does," She conceded. "Ask me anything."

Spencer sat forward, "Why haven't you had sex with Caleb again?" She whispered, repeating her question from earlier that Hanna had so desperately tried to avoid.

Hanna gulped again, holding a hand to her forehead as she thought about her answer. Honesty was the best policy. "Because I need to know that I'm in love with him," She said quietly, holding her phone up to look at her screen background. The photo of her and Caleb was blocked by a message alert.

 _Miss you_

She hadn't cared that he hadn't texted back straight away. What had happened after had been worth so much more. She had every faith that she was on his mind as much as he was on hers. No text message would ever be needed to vilify that.

It was a sign.

* * *

 **Review? xoxo**


	5. The Brunch

**Hello my dear readers... A few things;**

 **1\. I posted a new oneshot called Six Inch Heels - if you haven't seen, go read  
2\. I posted the epilogue to Restraints - sobbing internally but go read  
3\. I'm going on holiday on Saturday for 2 weeks, don't expect any updates because I don't know the wifi situation!**

 **Luckygirl5 ~ welcome back to fanfiction**

 **Pllforever ~ your review cracked me up, all I know is it's pretty hot**

 **Guest ~ I'm gonna try and update GGGB before I go away, so fingers crossed but no promises**

 **Enjoy...**

* * *

 _"You're comfortable with making little sacrifices for him"_

* * *

After any sleepover, it was the Liars' tradition to have a huge breakfast at home the next day, or to go out for brunch at the Apple Rose Grille. Hanna was addicted to their pancakes and despite there being a kitchen with anything they'd ever need just down the stairs, she'd convinced the girls that this time they needed to eat out. Her taste buds wouldn't settle for anything less than maple syrup covered fluffy heaven and she also knew that in public the girls couldn't keep prodding her on her "sexual activities", as they were now intent on calling them.

After the unexpected phone call with Caleb the night before, the questions had not stopped since and Hanna just needed a break.

She'd played it pretty well; as soon as she'd mentioned how she'd noticed the Grille might be taking their Eggs Benedict off the menu, Aria had sat straight up and demanded that they go out so that she could have it again, just in case. Emily was of course, relatively uncaring but Hanna considered it a vote in her favour anyway and with three against one the nail was in the coffin. She snorted under her breath as she thought about what Emily would probably order; granola and fruit was not a meal she considered to be worthy of brunch out; she was all for eating healthy and keeping the weight off, but her body was not a temple and right now she was quite comfortable with that.

She glanced at her phone as the screen remained dark. She wasn't concerned, but Caleb hadn't texted her yet that morning and it was a little weird. He had this thing about being the first person to speak to her every day so when it was radio silence she figured something was up, especially after their call last night. He'd been extra attentive ever since the beanie baby incident and it hadn't gone unnoticed; she was kind of hoping for the same right now.

She fluffed her hair in the mirror and was just about to stand up when her phone started vibrating. "Lucas?" She frowned to herself, grabbing her phone and answering quickly, "Hello?"

"Hey Hanna," Lucas drawled.

"Hey, is everything okay?" She got straight to the point. Sure they were good friends, but she knew he was probably ringing about his lodger, not what photo to put in the yearbook.

"5 minutes!" Spencer walked into her bedroom and yelled before heading back to the bathroom. Hanna glared at her; brunch was not a military operation and she'd have liked to get to the Grille with both eardrums intact.

"Caleb asked me to call you," Lucas pulled her attention back to him.

"Why?" Hanna asked, "What's wrong?"

"He's sick," Lucas explained.

"Sick?" Hanna's heart dropped. "What's wrong with him? He was fine last night."

"We were just watching E.T.," Lucas started nervously.

"I know you were watching E.T.," Hanna butted in, "What's actually wrong with him?"

"We had this jar of Nutella and I think we were on a sugar high after we tried to see how much we could fit into our mouth without swallowing and he told me he could do a headstand on the sofa without any hands, but I didn't believe him, so I dared him."

"Lucas," Hanna growled.

"I know, I know," She couldn't see him, but he was closing his eyes in disappointment. "He fell and he hit his head pretty hard."

"How can he hit his head?" She rolled her eyes, "He was on his head."

"No," Lucas explained bashfully, "He was actually on the sofa on his head and he kind of tumbled off and hit it on the coffee table."

"Great," She muttered in slight disbelief.

"My Mom doesn't think he needs to go to the hospital for stitches but he said he feels nauseous and he's got a headache and looking at his phone makes him feel worse so yeah... I'm calling you."

As soon as Hanna had heard the word hospital she'd stood up and started to ram her things into her bag. "I'm coming over," She said, "Don't let him move."

"I don't think he's going anywhere," Lucas murmured and raised his eyebrows.

"Tell him he's an idiot from me," She retorted sarcastically before she hung up.

"Han?" Aria asked with concern, having listened to half of Hanna's conversation.

"It's Caleb," She said, "He's hurt himself."

"Badly?"

"I don't know," Hanna replied, "He's hit his head," She added, "I need to go see him."

"Of course," Aria nodded and stood up from the bed, "Go," She said, shoving her phone charger at her, "I'll tell the others."

For the first time since Lucas has called her, Hanna paused. "I feel bad," She swallowed, turning her head to the closed bathroom door Spencer was readying herself behind. "We always do brunch."

"You care about him more than a stupid tradition," Aria reassured her.

Hanna smiled coyly, "I guess I do," She said, her face lighting up as she thought of Caleb.

"Now go," Aria practically pushed her towards the stairs.

"I'll text!" Hanna yelled as she ran out the door. She was going to kill Lucas, she was going to kill her idiotic boyfriend and she was going to make their deaths as painful as possible because first, she was going to have to go to the grocery store.

* * *

Hanna found herself stood in front of Lucas' front door; her eyes closed as she took a deep breath and readied herself to ring the doorbell. She had to remind herself that her boyfriend was just as much at fault as his bunkmate and that she really shouldn't throttle either around the throat because she was angry; they were boys, they messed around and sometimes accidents happened.

Muttering under her breath about how they were still dumb anyway, she balanced the food she'd bought in one arm and lifted her hand to knock against the door and finally make her presence known. "Hanna?" Lucas swung the door open, looking hopefully at the blonde.

"Where is he?" She asked, storming past him, "Are your parents in?"

"No," He shook his head, slightly bewildered by her flustered state. "They're at Church."

"Is he in bed?" Hanna stalked further into the house, craning her head around every corner to try and identify exactly where Caleb was. She couldn't help it, but the anger came surging back. She cared about him so much - did he not realise how doing things like this put her through an inane amount of stress and not to mention she'd given up her brunch.

"Down here," Lucas looked a little put out at Hanna's lack of interest in him, but he led her down the hallway to his bedroom nonetheless. "I'll just…" He dithered near the door as Hanna pushed past him. Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, the door was slammed in his face and he was left there on his own to stew.

On the other side of the wooden frame, Hanna felt her resolve crumble as soon as she took in the sight of her boyfriend, lying in bed in just his sweats looking like some smoldering model and a sad little puppy all at the same time. Honestly, the things he could do to her with just his eyes. "Caleb," She growled, her annoyance filtering straight back through as she remembered where she should have been right now. She'd wanted those pancakes so badly.

"What?" He mumbled, rolling onto his back. "I'm sick."

"Why?" She dumped the bag of food, picked up a cushion and thumped him with it.

"Why what?" He frowned, grabbing the pillow and holding it against his stomach. "Ow."

She tilted her head and glared at him, "You hurt your head, not your stomach."

He grabbed her hands and pulled her down on top of him, eliciting a squeal from her as she lost control of her body and settled on top of him. "Don't be mean to your sick boyfriend."

"I hate you," She whispered, propping herself up so that she could look down at him.

"No you don't," He shook his head.

"Yes I do," She pouted, "You made me give up pancakes."

"Woah woah woah," He pushed himself to sit up slowly, his hands going to her thighs as she straddled his lap and he adjusted to the new position, "Hanna Marin gave up food for me? This must be serious."

"And I went to the grocery store," She muttered, leaning down to reach into the bag for an ice pack.

"Well now I really am honoured," He murmured, pulling her down again to press a tender kiss against her lips.

"I was worried," She murmured quietly, shyly, almost embarrassed by the words that left her mouth. "Lucas said the word hospital and all the hairs on my arms went up."

"I don't need to go to the hospital," He shook his head and stole another kiss, his hands running up and down her arms reassuringly. "I just hit my head, it can happen to anyone."

"You were being stupid," She looked at him pointedly.

"Lucas dared me," He said defensively, "I can't not do a dare Han."

"So if I dared you to go set fire to your hair you'd do it?"

"No, you're a girl," He said, bracing himself for the slap he knew was coming, "And why do you want me to get rid of this hair anyway?" He raised his eyebrows and ran a hand through his locks, "It's luscious."

"Did this accident give you some huge ego or something?"

"Just a cut," He replied, moving his hand from her thigh to his hairline. Without a word, she leant forward and pressed her lips against the broken skin. His eyes closed at her touch and she felt herself wanting the intimacy they shared in that moment to last forever.

"This one too," She whispered, her breath ghosting across his forehead before they landed on his scar.

"You've already healed that one," He murmured as she pulled back to look him in the eye. He could sense she wanted to ask what he meant, why he had it, but he cut her off, "Not now."

One look into his eyes and she could see the pain he was still bearing from whatever had caused the mark that would etch his skin forever, "Okay," She said gently, resting her forehead on his before she pressed her lips against his once, twice, three times.

She climbed off him, much to his disappointment and moved back towards the door that she'd slammed in Lucas' face. Just as she'd expected, he was pacing outside nervously. "It's okay, I've killed him."

"I'm really sorry, Hanna," Lucas pleaded.

"And you're also really dumb," She smiled at him. "Don't dare him again."

"Of course," He stuttered, "Never... Ever... I mean... Really I won't..."

"I forgive you."

"Babe, what's actually in here?" Caleb called, rolling onto his side slowly to inspect what was actually in the brown paper bag Hanna had brought with her.

"My favourite," She said, heading back over to him to pull out a tub of Chunky Monkey.

"I thought this stuff was for me," He looked at her confused, holding a hand to his head as he sat up and felt a spell of dizziness. "You know I pick out the walnuts."

"This is for you," Hanna pulled out a box of painkillers. "I gave up brunch, do you really think I wasn't going to feed myself here instead?"

"We can make brunch," He smirked up at her, using all his strength to stand up without giving into the head-rush that hit him hard. "After that phone call..." He trailed off, his nose at her ear as he held onto her shoulders to steady himself, "I'm definitely hungry."

Her cheeks flushed pink and she buried her head against his shoulder to hide her embarrassment.

"Are we making brunch?" Lucas interrupted, not really sure what they were talking about. "My Mom always has waffle mix," He shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

"Yes," Hanna spun around quicker than Caleb thought was humanly possible. "Waffles," She snatched up the bag from the floor and charged past both of them towards the kitchen.

"I thought she wasn't annoyed," Lucas muttered, looking at Caleb still slightly confused.

"She's not," Caleb made his way over to him slowly and slapped him on the shoulder, "She's hungry," He walked past him, following the path Hanna had taken, "And hungry women are not to be messed with."

* * *

Caleb sat whilst he watched Hanna move around Lucas' kitchen hunting for the biggest spoon she could find. God, he could watch her forever, he thought to himself as she found exactly what she was looking for. He'd pretty much blurred the image of Lucas out as he tried to help as much as possible. All he wanted to focus on was the picture his girlfriend was painting as she stuck the spoon into the ice cream and scooped out as much as she could to dump on the waffle in front of her.

She tried to do it sneakily, but he could see her picking the walnuts out and eating them before a perfect waffle was placed down in front of him, "Why did I not know you could make waffles?" He asked her as she grabbed hers and Lucas' and placed them down too.

She sat down and fought a grin as Caleb ran his hand along her shoulder and squeezed. "You never stopped me having pancakes before."

"I'm not sure my body will cope with sugar this early," Lucas pointed out as he reached for a fork with some reticence.

"Oh come on Lucas," Caleb teased, "When a woman slaves away for you all morning, you don't say no."

"And I don't share out my Chunky Monkey with anyone," Hanna added, smiling in satisfaction as the perfect combination of ice cream and waffle hit her mouth.

"I'm honoured," Caleb dipped his hand under the table and squeezed her thigh.

"It is pretty good," Lucas caved after he'd swallowed his first bite.

"Do you still feel sick?" Hanna asked Caleb worriedly, reaching a hand under the table to play with his fingers that rested on her thigh.

"This has made me feel way better," He reassured her, leaning over to steal a kiss before they both focused on their food. Caleb enjoyed it, he really did, but he was also slightly grateful when Lucas informed them both he had to go and paint mini-figurines if he was to stay on target with his collector's plan. As soon as he was out of sight, Caleb was pulling Hanna onto his lap and pushing his mouth up against hers, "I need to lie down," He murmured, his lips deviating to her neck.

"Do you feel dizzy?" She asked, trying to stop him.

"Uh huh," He mumbled, still focused on touching as much of her skin as possible.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I."

Knowing neither of them were willing to give in, she took his hand and led him to the sofa, placing him there with a glass of water as she rifled through the DVD collection to see if there was something they wanted to watch. She settled on Harry Potter and had just about gotten comfy on the sofa when Caleb broke the comfortable silence.

"So…" He trailed off as she curled up into his side, neither of them paying any attention to the opening credits of the film. "You seriously gave up brunch with the girls for me?"

She rested her hand on his chest and tilted her head up to look at him, "Waffles were better," She smiled truthfully.

"Even though you were with two guys who have no idea how to turn on an oven?"

"We didn't even use an oven," Her eyebrow quirked with concern, "We're so taking a cooking class this summer."

"Okay," He grinned; he wanted to spend his entire summer with her and no one else. "I'm serious though," He whispered against her temple, "We can go out for pancakes next weekend, I know I was stupid."

"I don't care about pancakes," She said, "I just care about you."

Every word she said was true. She'd sacrifice brunch with the girls any day of the year for him.

It was a sign.

* * *

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	6. The iPhone

**Well, the Haleb sneak peak for tonight gave me all kinds of feels - vintage Haleb at their best. I love when they snark at each other; I think the sign in this chapter is just THEM.**

 **Guest ~ here you go, Lucas makes a little unexpected appearance**

 **Guest ~ you asked for sexual activities on the bunk bed... enjoy**

 **Okay, this got really quite dirty. You have been warned. Enjoy below...**

* * *

" _He annoys the heck out of you, but you still want to be around him_ _"_

* * *

"Caleb."

 _Silence._

"Caleb."

 _Still silence._

"Caleb."

There was a deep sigh before the boy who was sitting at Lucas' desk spun around on the chair to look at her, "What Hanna?"

"I'm bored."

He turned back around and missed the indignant look on her face, "I thought you had homework to do?" He asked with a frown on his face, focusing on the phone he had in front of him.

"It's boring," She slinked off his bunk bed, moving over to slowly slide her arms around his chest as she pressed a kiss against the side of his face.

"Babe," He sounded exasperated, "I'm trying to concentrate."

"You were the one who invited me over for this study date," She rolled her eyes, yanking her arms away and walking back over to the bed in a huff.

"And I'm getting paid an extra hundred bucks if I can sort this data leak out in the next hour."

"By who?" She frowned – there were only a few people in Rosewood High who had that sort of money to be dropping like it was nothing.

"Bridget Wu came through," He grinned, watching as the code started to run across his computer screen. "Daddy buys her the latest iPhone but she wants more memory and says it runs too slow. Apple said they couldn't do anything about it so here I am."

"No need to be so happy about it," She murmured, narrowing her eyes at him.

Not only was he just ignoring her, he was doing stuff for a girl who was _not_ her. They were alone. They could've been making out whilst Lucas was at school working on the yearbook. Her annoyance levels were going through the roof.

"It's not often I get an offer like this," He defended himself, looking over his shoulder at her. "I need this money, Han."

"I can give you money."

"No," He growled, "You can't."

"Yes I can," She argued, "What do you need it for? I can buy you whatever you want... I'll get it you as a present."

"We are not having this conversation again," He turned around and focused on his computer screen.

"Why are you being like this?" She raised her eyebrows, her voice full of defense.

"Why are _you_ being like this?" He spun around again, looking at her with clear frustration on his face. "I told you, I'm not going legit."

"I don't care about that," She argued, throwing her math textbook onto the floor.

"Han," He interrupted her, a weary hand covering his face, "I don't want to argue about this. I need this money and if you're not okay with that, then I don't know what to say."

"I…" She didn't know what to say either.

"Please," He stood up and moved over to her, cupping her cheek as he pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth, "Can you just let me fix this and then I promise, we can chill."

She nodded silently, numbly, stumped. "Okay," She agreed in a whisper, forcing the frustration that simmered within her to dissipate as he turned and headed back to settle at his laptop.

But even with the annoyance she felt towards him, she still just wanted to be with him. That was why she was sat there and putting up with the crap he threw at her when she tried to talk about money and his job. She got it; he was proud, probably the proudest person she knew and he'd been through so much to get where he was, but she just wanted to help him. She just wanted them to be together and enjoy the peace they created without having to worry about when the next cop was going to turn up.

She shook her head and reached down to grab the textbook she'd thrown on the floor, trying her best to focus on the algebra in front of her rather than the movements and sounds of her boyfriend and his computer. It was almost impossible. She didn't know how long the silence surrounded them; it could have been 20 minutes, it could have been 40, but when he finally stood up and slammed the top of his laptop down, she'd only managed to do two questions from her homework.

"I'll be right back," He murmured, snatching up the iPhone on his desk and heading out of his room. Hanna guessed Bridget had showed up to collect her precious phone and she tried not to let her disgust grace her face as she thought about her having her dirty alcohol-covered hands on her boyfriend. "If you're not careful, it'll get stuck like that," Caleb's voice broke the thoughts in her head.

"What?" She frowned, not following him.

"Your face," He sauntered over to her, "It'll get stuck like that if you're not careful," He smirked, nudging his mouth forward towards hers.

"Not funny," She turned her head and gave him her cheek instead of her lips.

He rolled his eyes, "Are you still annoyed at me?"

"Yes," She said shortly, looking back down at her homework and focusing all her attention on that.

"Stop it," He frowned, "Seriously, what is up with you?"

She threw her book down again, "What's up with me?" She raised her eyebrows in shock, "More like, what's up with _you_?" She jabbed him in the chest, "I have never known somebody who is more annoy—"

He shut her up with his mouth, cupping her face with both his hands as she tried to fight it before giving up and starting to kiss back. He tilted his head to the side, one hand trailing down her shoulder to her waist as he attacked her lips with his own. Hot and wet and sweet and tender; her kisses were everything he loved about Hanna Marin.

"Mph," She moaned against his mouth, trying to push him back. "We need to stop," She breathed heavily, "I'm not starting this."

"Starting what?" He laughed in disbelief.

"I'm annoyed at you," She harrumphed, "And Lucas will be home soon. Yearbook doesn't last forever."

"It does when Danielle's there and he's trying to get to first base."

" _What?_ " Hanna shrieked, her hand coming to her mouth as Caleb climbed on top of her and pushed her down onto the bed.

"Do you realize how many times I've had to lie here and tell him how you glance at the lips," His eyes dropped to her plump pout, "Look back into the eyes," His pupils dragged up to meet hers, "And then," He whispered, his eyes fluttering shut as he slowly, tenderly, captured her mouth with his own.

She surrendered herself to him, looping her arm around his neck as one hand tangled in his hair and her mouth opened to let his tongue slide in and meet her own. The way he kissed her made her breath catch in her throat and the butterflies in her stomach flutter so hard she thought they were going to set off a hurricane. Still, she couldn't let him know that.

"What?" He grinned as she pulled back and looked at him with a smirk on her face.

"I don't know why he's looking to you for tips," She teased, opening her legs for him to settle in between. "I'm pretty sure I had to make the first move."

"I was being a gentleman," He murmured, nudging her nose with his own as his hands made their way under her top to stroke her flat stomach. "And you had pretty much given me zero signs that I could kiss you."

"Because I was freaking out!" She argued, "I had just seen your…" She nodded down towards his lower regions, " _Thingy_ , and I didn't know what to do."

He threw his head back and laughed, much to her embarrassment, "My thingy?" He raised an eyebrow, moving a hand down to cup and readjust himself – he wasn't ashamed by the fact that he was a male teenager who got a hard on from being in physical contact with his girlfriend – she had just let him sit in between her legs for god's sake.

"Your penis," She folded her arms and angled her head to shoot him a knowing look.

"That's what you get when you walk in on someone having a shower," He murmured, a smirk on his face as he leant down to give her a tender kiss.

"Are you sure Lucas isn't going to come back?" She whispered, the look in her eyes conveying all the intimacy she was craving from him.

He sensed the mood change and nodded silently, capturing her perfect pout with his mouth again, "He said he was going to take her for ice cream," He said quietly, stroking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Why?"

Her hands dipped to his hips before one was nervously moving round to the front of his trousers, "Because," She said, reaching for his pants button.

"Wait," He stopped her, pressing his lips against her collarbone before he was standing up and heading towards the chest of drawers he kept his clothes in.

"What are you doing?" She asked, tossing her homework onto the floor.

"Making sure Lucas doesn't come in," He said, disappearing around the other side of the door.

She shook her head as she leant back against Caleb's pillows; the bro-code would always remain a mystery to her. If they had some weird signal, then so be it. Although, she frowned as Caleb reappeared, she couldn't exactly imagine Lucas ever needing to give some sort of signal to his bunk-mate that he had a girl in his room.

"You've been frowning too much," Caleb reappeared, tossing his hoody onto the floor before he settled himself back in between Hanna's legs.

"You've been annoying me too much," She countered, biting her lip as he rolled his eyes and shook his head at her.

"And yet you're still here."

"I guess I am."

They stared at each other, eyes dancing, teasing, taunting before Hanna made the first move and pulled him by his t-shirt. He didn't put up a fight and as he fell down on top of her again, like a magnet his mouth found hers. She could feel his arousal pressing against her – God, she wanted to touch him – and she let her instincts take over, reaching for the button on his pants that had remained undone.

He could sense her nervousness and as he pressed his lips against the nook behind her earlobe, he couldn't help but murmur in her ear, "We don't have to do this."

"I want to," She muttered, dragging his mouth back to hers as she tried to distract herself by kissing the living daylights out of him. He'd never been so grateful to hear those words; sure he never ever intended to make her do something she wasn't comfortable with but he didn't know how much longer sorting himself out would be satisfactory. "Take these off," She tugged on his jeans and he readily obliged, kicking his legs at the end to remove himself of the constrictive material.

"Seriously," He started, "We don't—"

"Will you shut up," She silence him with her lips again, running her hands up to his hair to weave them through his tendrils before she let them trail down to his boxers, toying with the waistband at the front before she finally dipped her hand inside to feel him.

He'd never tell her, but he felt like he was almost going to blow his load with just one touch of her fingertips. "Han," He pulled away to gasp as her digits wrapped around him and started to slowly tug. He wanted her to feel this too.

She didn't respond, just worked him harder as he fumbled with her skirt. His head crashed down onto the pillow next to her as he finally found her centre; she was already so wet and it didn't take much for him to push her minuscule thong to the side and delve a finger into her.

"Oh," She breathed, burying her face in his neck as they teased each other. Her hand paused on his cock as she let the familiar pleasure wash over and take her under.

"Don't stop," He begged her, his mouth close to his ear before he latched his teeth into her neck and started to suck and nibble. His thumb found her clit and she squeezed him in response before she started to find his boxers too constricting, giving him up for a moment to pull them down over his hips.

It was the first time she'd really _seen_ him and she tried not to stare as she took him in in all his glory. "Caleb," She whispered as he pulled her back to reality and pushed another finger into her.

"I know." And he really did. In that moment, with her lips searching for his and her hand squeezing, tugging, caressing his dick he knew exactly what she was feeling.

"Ah," She squealed against his mouth, her eyes fluttering shut, just like her hand around his cock as she came against his fingers. It was enough to take him over the edge; the combination of feeling her tightening around his digits as she simultaneously stroked him one final time.

"Fuck Han," He grunted, pulling her against him as he exploded over her hand. He was a teenage boy. He had no shame about how much she turned him on. "That was amazing," He whispered in her ear, collapsing onto his back as they both breathed heavily, coming down from their mutual highs, "You're amazing," He muttered with his eyes closed as his non-sticky hand came up to run through her hair.

"I still have my skirt on," She said the first thing that sprang to mind.

He opened an eye and peered down at her, "I can change that," He smirked, reaching for the zipper at the side and tugging it down over her legs.

"You didn't need to do that," She blushed.

"Why not?" He asked softly, "I like looking at you."

"You're so annoying."

He looked at her in mock disbelief, "I just gave you a seriously good orgasm and you're saying I'm annoying?"

"Shut up," She couldn't fight the grin on her face as she looked up at him.

"Make me," He muttered, nudging his nose against hers, "Again," He added, before he was capturing her lips with his own again.

"Oh my god."

They both broke apart to see Lucas standing in the doorway, white as a ghost with his mouth hanging open. "Lucas!" Hanna squealed, trying to find something, anything to hide herself.

"Dude!" Caleb snapped; he froze, not knowing whether to try and save Hanna's dignity or his own.

"I… I'm sorry," The boy stuttered before he was spinning around and heading straight back out in the direction he came from.

"Oh my god," Hanna buried her head in her hands as Caleb sprang up to pull on his boxers and then his jeans. "What the hell did you put on the door?" She snapped as she spotted what looked decidedly like an item of clothing hanging off the door handle.

"Every guy knows that if there's a sock on the handle, you don't come in."

" _That_ , was your sign to tell him not to come in?"

"Don't look at me like that," He rolled his eyes.

"Caleb," She covered her eyes with her hands and threw herself back onto the bed. "You are so stupid."

"If I'm that stupid, then what are you still doing here?" He argued, throwing her skirt at her, "No one's keeping you here."

"Not what I want to hear right now," She spat, tugging the material over her hips. "Believe it or not, I still like your company," She said, "Even if you are really dumb sometimes."

"But you're not going anywhere, are you?" He tugged her to him and crashed his mouth onto hers; there was so much tension still simmering beneath the surface.

"No," She leant back and separated from him, "I guess I'm not."

"Go save my ass," He squeezed her against him and mumbled in her ear.

"Your literal ass," She couldn't fight it anymore and grinned up at him as his smile reflected hers. He kissed her one more time and squeezed her butt before he trailed out the room with her behind him, one of her hand's hooked in his back pocket as they went to try and do damage control with his bunkmate.

She shook her head to herself as she thought about how ridiculous Caleb could be sometimes, how much he wound her up, frustrated her, annoyed her. But still, despite everything he put her through, all she wanted to do was spend her time with him.

In that moment, she knew.

It was a sign.

* * *

 **Happy Haleb day. Review? xoxo**


	7. The Sweatpants

**I'm so sorry for leaving it this long. I've kind of had writer's block recently, but hopefully it's going.**

 **haleb ~ the scar story will be nicely explained in a future sign. Yep, 2x01 has happened and Caleb's said "I love you". This story is about Hanna realising with all these signs that she does feel the same way (culminating in usage of Spencer's Nana's couch in 2x08) and then having enough courage to say it back (culminating in 2x09).**

 **Enjoy...**

* * *

" _You're comfortable enough around him to make bad jokes and be your fully weird self"_

* * *

"Hanna," Ashley Marin looked at her daughter with some reticence as she lounged on the sofa in her sweatpants. "You promise me, you're not having Caleb over?"

"Seriously, this is the fourth time you've asked me this evening," Hanna huffed and rolled her eyes, "Look at me!" She exclaimed, holding up a plate of food. "You think I'd let him see me like this?"

Ashley sighed and smiled as she pulled her coat on, "No," She walked over to press a kiss against her hair.

"Please don't bring him back if he's horrible."

"Hanna!" She rolled her eyes like her daughter had just done, "I won't be bringing anyone back. Emily's a guest here now and that would be completely inappropriate. Besides, this is a Wednesday night date with a nice man Ella has set me up with."

"I'll just be here, eating my fries in my sweatpants."

"Are they cold?" Ashley screwed her nose up. "We have a fully functioning microwave in the kitchen Hanna."

"I like them cold," Hanna defended herself, "Now can you please go?"

"Anybody would think you're trying to throw me out," Ashley sighed, her shoulders dropping before she reached for her handbag as the doorbell rang. "I'll see you later. Enjoy your movie."

Hanna watched over her shoulder until the door slammed shut and she was convinced her Mom was safely on her way to wherever her non-descript date was taking her. As long as he wasn't Wilden, she didn't really care, she thought as she scrolled through her phone for Caleb's number.

 _Mom's gone, come over in 15 mi_

She didn't manage to finish typing her message before the doorbell rang again, "Did you forget your key?" She rolled her eyes, pulling open the door and fully expecting to her find her Mom stood outside looking helpless. "Oh," She paused, slightly taken aback to find her boyfriend already there, "Caleb," She stuck her head out and whispered harshly as she looked around. "What if my Mom's still here?"

"I watched her get in some guy's car," He shrugged, slipping inside as Hanna opened up the door for him, "I was pretty sure she wasn't going to get back out once they went round the corner."

"Seriously, we agreed I'd give you a 15 minute warning."

He hooked his hands round her hips and pulled her into him, leaning down to steal her mouth with his own. "Seriously," He pulled back, "It's fine." He frowned down at her, unsure as to why she was so concerned with his presence.

"I know," She smiled tightly up at him.

"What are we watching?" He took her hand and led her into the living room, separating their fingers to jump over the back of the sofa and settle down as she dithered slightly behind him. "Seriously babe, Em's out, your Mom's gone, chill out," He looked over his shoulder at her, slightly perplexed as to why she was so on edge. He'd stayed in her basement for god's sake; one night without Ashley Marin knowing he was round to watch a movie was nothing in comparison.

"I am chilled," She huffed, climbing over the back of the sofa just as he'd done to sit down next to him.

"So," He murmured again, tucking her into his side, "What are we watching?"

"Sex and the City," She tried to fight a grin as the words left her mouth, but it was pointless.

"I can't watch that," He laughed and shook his head.

"Why?" She teased him.

"Because," He shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

"Boys like sex," She said casually, reaching for her plate of fries. "It's basically porn."

"Girl porn," He corrected her, extending his hand to grab some of her food, "Babe," His eyebrow quirked as he picked up a chip.

"What?" She tried to act innocent.

"These are cold."

"I know."

"Why are you eating _cold_ fries?"

"Because I like them," She huffed, stealing the French fry out of his hand to bring to her mouth instead.

"So we're watching Sex and the City and eating cold fries. Remind me why I came over here again?"

"Because you love me." There was an awkward silence as they both processed the words that had left Hanna's mouth like a lose cannon. "I mean…"

He stopped her and pulled her into him more, burying his nose in her hair, "You know how I feel about you," He whispered, pressing a tender kiss against the shell of her ear.

She didn't know what to say, what to do, how to feel in that moment. Her heart was full to bursting yet her head told her not yet, not yet. She needed to be rational, she needed more time, she needed more _signs_. "I know," She finally looked up at him, their eyes connecting and probing.

"Are you seriously gonna make me watch this?" He didn't give her the opportunity to say anything else, reaching across for another fry.

"No," She conceded, sitting up slightly as he nudged her off him. She watched as he moved down to the TV stand, pulling open one of the drawers to rifle around in the mass of DVDs for something he wanted to watch.

"You really need to get Netflix," He mumbled, not seeing anything that jumped out.

"Net-what?"

"Netflix," He clarified, settling on Inception. "You can stream movies and TV stuff," He stood back up and made his way over to her again, "Of course, if you'd let me hook up your laptop, you could do all of that for free."

"I'm not letting you give me a virus," She rolled her eyes.

"But you'll let me give you a—"

"Do not finish that sentence," She stopped him, grabbing another fry as she curled into him again and a comfortable silence settled over them, "What is this?" Hanna asked as Leonardo DiCaprio's face graced the screen for the first time.

"It's about controlling people's dreams," He said quietly, pulling her legs over his lap.

She visibly shirked as a gun was fired within the first minute, instantly deciding this was not a film she was going to be paying attention to for the long haul. "I'll be right back," She mumbled, disappearing up the stairs to her room to grab the fabric swatches she'd been meaning to sort for the past week.

She had every intention of heading straight back downstairs until she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

And that's when she realized she was still wearing sweats.

She could count on one finger the number of times she hadn't dressed up for Caleb. It was not in Hanna Marin's nature to let her standards slip like this, even if it had been a simple ploy to convince her Mom she'd be alone for the evening. She cursed under her breath as she quickly opened up her wardrobe to try and find the pair of jeans she'd been planning to wear – they were the ones she'd just bought in town, the ones that Aria had told her made her butt look really good…

"Babe?" She spun around as Caleb appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing?" He laughed as she fought the blush that was battling to spread across her cheeks.

"I…" She stuttered, "I'm looking for my fabric swatches."

"Your fabric swatches?" His brow furrowed.

"Yeah," She forced a smile, "If we're watching a film with guns, then I can do this at the same time."

"We don't need to watch Inception," He made a move towards her as she subtly closed her jeans drawer.

"What? Does someone get pregnant?"

"No," He grinned, laughing slightly, "That would be conception and I think it'd be a very different film."

"Oh," She blushed again. Why did she have to say such dumb things?

"Seriously," He reached her, pulling her into his arms, "We can watch something else. I just thought you'd like Leo."

"Mmm," She rubbed her lips together as she rested her hands on his chest. "He is pretty hot," She agreed as he dipped his head down to capture her lips with his own. She moaned into his mouth, gripping his t-shirt as he started to move his tongue against hers.

She felt his hands run down her back, cupping her arse before he settled on her hips and began to tease the skin underneath the hem of her t-shirt. Maybe sweatpants were a good thing, she thought, as one of his hands skirted round the front to tug on the drawstrings she'd tied into a knot. "Seriously," He repeated, kissing her slowly, "We can watch something else…" He murmured, "Do something else…"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," He grinned, holding her waist as he slowly walked them back towards her bed.

"Wait," She stopped him as he sat down on the side of the mattress, her still stood in between his legs.

"What?" He whispered, pushing her top up so that he could press his lips against her belly button.

"I need to shut the curtains," She grinned, stepping away from him as he flicked on her bedside lamp and watched her move around her room. She bit her lip as she felt his probing gaze, before she turned her head over her shoulder and caught his eyes. "And turn off the light," She added, making her way towards the switch next to the door.

"Happy?" Caleb asked her, tugging on the front of his hoodie as she settled in between his legs again.

"Uh huh," She murmured as he encouraged her onto his lap, his hands holding her as she knelt with her knees either side of him. "Happy," She whispered, lacing her hands through his hair as their lips met again.

She loved the way he kissed her; it was tender and passionate and soft and hard all at once and it never failed to make her feel like she was the most important person in his life. A year ago, she'd never have thought she'd be here, sneaking a boy into her house so that she could make out with him. Now, it felt like second nature.

He pulled her backwards with him, letting her take the lead as they continued to kiss on top of her covers. "Mm," He moaned, gripping her hips as he pulled back to bite down on her bottom lip. The moment he'd seen her that evening - dressed in front of him in those sweatpants that clung to her butt like nothing else - he'd wanted her. He always wanted her. She really was his entire world.

 _Slam._

Like two deer caught in the headlights, they froze. "What was that?" Caleb asked as quietly as possible.

"The front door," Hanna gulped, pulling herself off him.

"Hanna?" They both heard a very familiar voice yell.

"And my mother," She added, shoving him off the bed and onto the floor. "Stay down there," Her voice squeaked as she tried to compose herself.

"Hanna?" They heard Ashley call again, her voice louder as she got closer to them.

"I'm here Mom," Hanna said, taking a deep breath before making her way towards the hallway. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be on a date."

"We both agreed there was no point going into the restaurant," Ashley said diplomatically as she appeared in front of her daughter.

"Why?" Hanna pulled a face, "Aren't you supposed to give each other a chance?"

Ashley rolled her eyes, "It was his first date since separating from his wife. I wasn't going to sit through a meal and try and engage a man in conversation when he's thinking about another woman."

"Ouch," Hanna raised her eyebrows and chewed on her lip. "Are you upset?"

"Is Caleb here?" Ashley ignored the question and looked round her daughter's shoulder to peer into her room.

"What?" The blonde laughed as convincingly as possible. "Why would Caleb be here? I promised you he wouldn't come round."

"There's a film with guns on downstairs. When I left you were watching Sex and the City."

"I know."

"You hate films with guns."

"It had Leo in it," Hanna shrugged as a pink shade spread across her cheeks.

"Hanna," Ashley sighed, "If he's here, I'd rather you just tell me."

"He's not here!" She insisted. "Seriously do you not believe me?"

"To be quite honest, no."

"Look," Hanna propped her hands on her hips, "Just because you had a bad date, doesn't mean I'm here having a great one to counterbalance it."

"And the empty plate of fries that was full when I left?"

"I was hungry!"

"Hanna," Ashley folded her arms, "Is he here?"

"No."

" _Hanna_."

"I'm in _sweatpants_ ," She argued, "Do you really think I'd let him see me like this?"

"Well…"

"I have been lying on the sofa eating cold French fries, in sweats that make my butt look like some lumpy pancake," She ranted, "He's not here."

Ashley sighed and rolled her eyes, "I'm going to have a bath."

"Make sure you add extra salts," Hanna mumbled, "I think you need them," She muttered under her breath as she watched her Mom walk off.

"I can hear you," Ashley yelled before she slammed the door and locked it.

"Lumpy pancakes," Hanna's voice trembled beneath her breath as she made her way round her bed to find Caleb lying on the floor, clearly trying not to burst out laughing. "Shut up," She kicked him, "If she finds you here, I'm dead."

"You better sneak me out then," He murmured, pushing himself up.

"Let me just make sure she's not coming back out," She said, grabbing a bottle of moisturizer. Caleb followed her to the edge of her doorway, peering round the corner to watch as Hanna knocked on the bathroom door to offer her Mom the cream she'd stolen.

"Just prop it outside," Ashley called through the door, "I'm already in the water."

"Okay Mom," Hanna said, nodding towards Caleb to make a run for it down the stairs. "It's by the door," She added, placing the bottle down before she quickly followed her retreating boyfriend's figure. "Okay," She breathed at the bottom of the stairs, "That was way too close."

"I know," Caleb shook his head, "Next time can we make sure she's not going on a date with some loser before we start making out."

"This one was supposed to be good…" Hanna murmured as he pulled her into his arms again. "Bye," She whispered against his lips, letting him lean down to press his mouth chastely against her own.

"For the record," He said, his hands dropping to her arse again, "Seriously not a lumpy pancake."

"Shut up," She rolled her eyes.

"And I feel privileged that Hanna Marin would wear her sweats in front of me."

"And share my cold fries," She added, unable to resist kissing him one final time. "Now go," She practically pushed him out of the door, "Before she really does see you."

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," He said, squeezing her waist, "And if you're lucky I'll let you share my hot fries."

She grinned at him, leaning against the doorway as he finally retreated into the darkness. "I can't wait," She whispered to herself, waiting until she couldn't see him anymore before she shut the door as quietly as possible.

She really had let him see her at her worst, witness her weird habits, experience her mother on some moody anti-date rant. And she hadn't thought twice about it. She could be herself around him without a care in the world.

She bit her lip and swallowed nervously.

It was a sign.

* * *

 **Upcoming signs to wet your appetite...**

 **\- "You talk about things you'll do in the future, without realising you're talking about the future"**

 **\- "He's the "something good" you think about when everything else is really rough"**

 **\- "When he's sad, you're genuinely sad too"**

 **Review? xoxo**


	8. The Summer

**Sorry for abandoning this story for 6 months. I guess the hiatus killed my inspo. Updates generally have been lacklustre from me, but hopefully that'll get better.**

 **Less than a week until new PLL... look out for a few more updates to celebrate.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

" _You talk about things you'll do together in the future, without realizing you're talking about the future"_

* * *

Hanna sighed to herself as she stood in the queue in the cafeteria, waiting for a plate of nondescript food to be placed on her tray. She'd spotted the girls in the courtyard, probably discussing -A business, but she really didn't want to be thinking about that right now. That thing was taking over her life and she was going through one of her phases where she just wanted to be a normal teenage girl wondering about her boyfriend and how into her he was.

"Boo!"

She almost jumped three feet in the air as she spun around to find Mona Vanderwaal lurking behind her shoulder. "God Mona, you scared the crap outta me."

"Sorry," The brunette smiled sweetly, "But you looked like you were miles away."

Hanna sighed again and ignored her comment, scrunching her face up as a plate of mush was handed to her, "Seriously, do they make it their mission to serve food that's this bad?" She asked, grabbing a small side salad and a bread roll.

"I guess they have nothing better to do with their time," Mona said, shrugging casually, "Let's sit over there," She nodded at a vacant table, not giving the blonde a chance to respond before she was stalking over and ceremoniously sitting herself on the plastic chair.

"I guess so," Hanna muttered, forcing herself to not roll her eyes as she followed her over.

"So," Mona tilted her head, her voice full of sweetness as Hanna sat herself down. "How are things with lover boy?" She asked knowingly, smirking slightly.

"They're good," Hanna couldn't help the fact that her lips tugged upwards as she thought about him, "He… came back for me," She said coyly, a nervous hand playing with her hair, "So yeah, they're really good."

"Have you… you know'ed again?"

"Mona!

"What?" The brunette shrugged, "It's not like you haven't spoken about the hot tent sex you've had with him before."

"Can you keep your voice down," Hanna leant across and whispered harshly, glancing around to make sure no one had overheard.

"Relax mamacita," Mona rolled her eyes, "Less people are interested in how shaggy performs in the mystery machine than you think."

"You're still calling him that?" Hanna slumped back against her chair, her arms folded as she shot her friend a questioning look.

"Stop avoiding the question." She demanded, "Have you or have you not allowed him to have his Scooby snacks?"

"We're not there yet," Hanna frowned, shaking her head as she tore up her bread uncomfortably.

"Oh honey, you were there a month ago."

"That was different," Hanna almost snapped, sitting up again.

"How?" Mona couldn't stop herself rolling her eyes again. "You're as in love with him now as you were with him then. And you know what? It's borderline sickening watching you hold hands around school."

"You could stop looking," The blonde tilted her head and smiled, not finding it within herself to deny the first part of her friend's statement. She was starting to come to terms with the fact that she was hopelessly in love with her boyfriend.

Mona pursed her lips before she smiled smugly at her friend, "I may not be into the long-haired, I-don't-shower, chip-on-my-shoulder type—"

"He showers," Hanna corrected her.

"But," Mona softened, "He is clearly into you," She said, tucking her hair behind her ear, "I mean he's staying in Lucas' bedroom," Mona raised her eyebrows, "Boy must have some serious feelings for you if he's willing to put up with Lucas rearranging his figurines every night."

"Yeah," Hanna's smile grew as she thought about her boyfriend, "I guess so."

Mona recomposed herself, sitting up taller and pushing her still-full tray of food away, "We need to plan what we're going to do in the summer."

"Yeah—"

Mona gasped and interrupted her, "I'll come round to yours tonight and we can decide what fabulous place we're going to visit."

"Mona—"

"What about Hawaii?"

"Mona—"

"Seriously, I've heard the locals are…" Her voice trailed off as she noticed Hanna's attention wane. "Cute," She prepared herself for a tight, fake smile as Caleb suddenly appeared.

"Hey," He grinned at his girlfriend, leaning down to peck her on the lips before he took a seat next to her.

"Hi Caleb," Mona interrupted.

"Hi."

" _Caleb_ ," Hanna shot him a look as she muttered under her breath.

He rolled his eyes and ignored her, a hand going to her thigh as he tilted his head at her, "Still on for after school?"

"Yeah," The blonde smiled sweetly, reaching a hand out to place on his leg. "My Mom is in though."

"That's okay," He teased her, biting his lip as his hand ran across her back to wrap around her waist. "Is she making dinner?"

"She'll cook for us," Hanna nodded, letting him lean forward to steal another kiss.

"See you later," He murmured, before he was standing up and disappearing right back where he'd come from.

"You are so whipped," Mona stated, folding her arms as she sussed out her best friend. "Does Mama Marin like him now then?"

"She's always liked him," Hanna defended, pushing her food around on her plate again. "Okay," She rolled her eyes, "There was like a week where she didn't like him, but she does now."

Mona sighed, "So I'm guessing we're not going to be planning our adventure to Miami after school."

"Sorry," Hanna shrugged, "I guess there's a queue."

"And I'm right at the back of it."

* * *

"Do you want any help Mrs. Marin?" Caleb asked politely as he pulled on the drawstrings of his hoodie in the kitchen.

"I'm good, thank you Caleb." Ashley shot Hanna a small smirk across the room as she stirred the chicken she had cooking. "But you and Hanna can lay the table."

"Sure," He immediately made a move towards the cutlery drawer, busying himself before he followed Hanna over to the table.

"Do you want a drink Mom?" Hanna said, sorting out the placemats before she made her way over to the fridge, sticking her head in to try and see if something would magically appear. "Do we have any lemonade?"

"You told me you weren't drinking pop," Ashley reminded her as she turned the heat down on the pan. "I thought you were giving that stuff up."

"You got a cola from the vending machine this morning," Caleb teased her, a grin on his face as his forehead creased.

"I was having a sugar low; it was the only thing I could get."

"Because you're diabetic right?" Caleb rolled his eyes jokingly, taking a seat at the island as Ashley began to serve up.

"Hanna, help with these," Ashley shook her head, nodding towards the bowls that were now steaming full with rice and Chinese chicken.

"Do you think Chinese people would like this stuff?" Hanna asked, carrying a bowl over to the table.

"Absolutely not," Caleb grinned at her as they took a seat.

"Maybe we can visit there one day and see what the food actually tastes like," Ashley suggested as she joined them.

Hanna scowled and tried not to scoff, staring at her to see if she was being serious or not. "Seriously?" She started, "When you have ever wanted to go to China?"

"Maybe I want to see the world before I pop my clogs."

"Pop your clogs?" Hanna raised her eyebrows, her voice full of sarcasm. "I think you're a few years away from having to worry about that."

"Well sweetheart, we should still think about whether we want to switch up our annual trip to Miami."

"Urgh, you sound just like Mona," Hanna screwed her face up.

"Is that what she was talking to you about?" Caleb finally spoke, taking a sip of his water as he looked at her questioningly.

"Yep," She sighed, "She's fixated on planning some elaborate holiday for the two of us next summer."

"I thought Mona was your best friend," Ashley looked puzzled, not missing the look her daughter had just shot her boyfriend.

"She was," Hanna agreed, pushing her food around for the second time that day, "She is I guess," She corrected herself, "Since Aria came back I've been spending less time with her."

"Oh."

"But back to holidays," Caleb jumped in, sensing Hanna's reticence to talk about her friendship situation with her Mom, "There must be somewhere you want to go?"

"I dunno," She shrugged, "To see Grandma."

"Hanna, you hated summers in Virginia."

"That was because of Dad," Hanna rolled her eyes. "Let's face it, I'll never have to bump into Kate there."

"Regina doesn't seem to have taken a liking to her," Ashley conceded.

"She practically hates the girl!"

"She sounds pretty cool for a Grandma," Caleb said, swallowing a mouthful of his dinner.

"Grams is awesome," Hanna agreed, "Crazy, but awesome." She pushed her food around some more, "When we go in the summer you can meet her."

Ashley bit her lip and looked down, focusing on her dinner as Hanna and Caleb reacted nonchalantly to Hanna's statement. "I almost ended up in Virginia once," He shrugged, "Then I figured out how much it cost to live there."

"You'd like it," Hanna told him, "Grams' house is right near a lake and in the summer they do like water-skiing."

"You water-ski?" Caleb had to hold back a laugh.

"God no," She shook her head, "I always sat in the boat wondering when I was going to get the ice cream my Dad had promised me," She explained, "But I dunno, you skateboard, you'd probably like it."

"I guess we better test the waters there before we head off to China," Caleb teased her.

"No. No way," Hanna said adamantly, finally starting her dinner, "I do not want to go to a place where they eat cats for dinner."

"So Asia is out of the question then," Ashley supposed. "What about South America?"

"So I can be kidnapped and used as a drugs mule for the rest of my life? No thank you."

"Hanna," Ashley rolled her eyes, "That would never happen."

"Hello," Hanna pulled a face, "Have you seen my hair? It screams American tourist who has no idea what they're doing in a foreign country."

"I thought that was the colour you were going for," Caleb teased her, tilting his head as he finished his meal.

"Miami it is then."

"But before college we'll need to go to Europe," Hanna started as Ashley stood up with her empty crockery, "FIT will _know_ if I've been to Paris or not."

"Is that so?"

"Oh," Hanna gasped, looking at her boyfriend, "We have to go to the most amazing patisserie on the Champs-Élyées."

"We?" Caleb raised an eyebrow, looking at her expectantly.

"Well you're coming of course," She grinned, dropping her hand to his thigh. "Like I'm gonna leave you alone in Rosewood for a month," She murmured quietly enough that her Mom didn't hear.

"I'm going to watch TV with a glass of wine," Ashley suddenly appeared right next to them, breaking their moment. "Can you rinse the dishes once you're done?"

"Of course," Caleb nodded, "Thank you for dinner, it tasted great."

"You're welcome Caleb," She smiled, "At least someone appreciates my cooking," She added, before disappearing down the hallway with her wine glass in hand.

"So," The brunette male turned back to his girlfriend, "Are we seriously going to visit your Grandma next summer?"

"Maybe we should go somewhere else," Hanna conceded as he squeezed her hand, "Virginia _is_ pretty boring. Grams is what makes it fun and you can only take the family stories for so many days in a row."

"Where do you wanna go?" He asked her, watching as she stood and moved their plates over to the sink before heading straight back towards him, wrapping her arm around his neck as she sat herself down on his lap.

"What about… California?"

"So you can run away with some movie star? Absolutely not."

Hanna grinned, dropping her head to place a kiss against his lips, "We've got one free pass right?"

"How long's it eligible?"

"The next 5 years," Hanna pouted, "Then it drops to nothing."

"You better hope neither of us head out to Cali in the next 5 years then."

"You're right," Hanna caught a wave of jealousy, "We're not going there."

"What about… Mexico?"

"Only if there's a gate around the resort."

"So we can't go to Cancun for spring break?"

"Not unless you want to watch guys stare at my boobs for a week." Caleb raised his eyebrows, only for her to scowl in response, "I've watched MTV."

"Maybe we'll have to stay here," He suggested, stroking her waist, "I feel like I should experience at least one Rosewood summer at the watering hole."

Hanna gasped, squeezing his shoulder, "We can take a cooking class."

"O-kay…"

"Come on," She did her best to convince him, "It'll be fun." He still didn't look convinced. "I'll make it memorable," She teased him, loving the way his eyes flared before shrieking with laughter as he poked her waist.

She couldn't wait for the summer with him. And as he encouraged her to stand so that he could do the dishes, she realized she couldn't wait for her future with him.

It was a sign.

* * *

 **If you enjoyed it, liked it, want to read more etc. please review. Promise the next update won't take as long.**


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